Human Behavior

The gospel according to the late Bishop John Shelby Spong – The Daily Post-Athenian

Bishop John Shelby Spong of Newark, New Jersey, never stuck Why Christianity Must Change or Die on the doors of Canterbury Cathedral, since it was easier to post a talking-points version of his manifesto on the internet.

Theism, as a way of defining God, is dead, he proclaimed in 1998. Since God can no longer be conceived in theistic terms, it becomes nonsensical to seek to understand Jesus as the incarnation of the theistic deity.

Lacking a personal God, it was logical to add: Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic deity to act in human history in a particular way.

Spongs 12-point take on post-theism faith emerged after spending years on the road, giving hundreds of speeches and appearing on broadcasts such as The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live.

By the time of his death at the age of 90 on Sept. 12 at his home in Richmond, Virginia Spong had seen many of his once-heretical beliefs especially on sex and marriage normalized in most Episcopal pulpits and institutions. However, his doctrinal approach was too blunt for many in the mainline establishment, where a quieter spiritual but not religious approach has become the norm.

Spong called himself a doubting believer and said he had no problem reciting traditional rites and creeds because, in his own mind, he had already redefined the words and images to fit his own doctrines. He also knew when to be cautious, such as during a Denver visit in the late 1980s an era in which the Diocese of Colorado remained a center for evangelical and charismatic Episcopalians.

After a lecture at the liberal St. Thomas Episcopal Church, I asked Spong if he believed the resurrection of Jesus was a historic event that took place in real time.

I dont think that I can say what the disciples believed they experienced. Ill have to think about that some more, he said, moving on to another question.

The bishop answered a decade later, in his memo calling for a new Reformation: Resurrection is an action of God. Jesus was raised into the meaning of God. It therefore cannot be a physical resuscitation occurring inside human history.

Frequently, Spong floated doctrinal test balloons in The Voice, his diocesan newspaper. Here are some other famous quotations.

On scripture: The Gospels portray Jesus as believing that David wrote the Psalms, Solomon the Proverbs and Moses the Torah a position which any graduate from any accredited seminary would today quickly dismiss.

On the Virgin Mary: The Mary I see in church history is a de-sexed woman. ... Her humanity has been taken away from her, and I think (Mary) makes a very poor symbol.

On science: We have practiced our enormous scientific and technical skills to open doors to aspects of life that once we assigned only to the gods. ... The power of divinity is more and more our own power.

Spong argued that churches that didnt embrace modernity were doomed. Nevertheless, during his era, Episcopal Church membership fell from 3.4 million in the 1960s to 1.6 million in 2019, according to official statistics. During Spongs tenure as bishop (1976-2000), Newark diocese membership declined from 62,732 to 36,674. That number was down to 23,045 in 2019.

When Jesus said, Come unto me all ye, he did not add, so long as you are not divorced or gay or a woman bishop or a doubter, he wrote. This church of ours may never be the church of the masses; it will never satisfy the emotional needs of the religiously insecure.

Speaking at Drew Theological School in New Jersey, the bishop also urged believers not to worry about eternity.

Nobody knows what the afterlife is all about; nobody even knows if there is one, Spong said in 2010. All of these images of bliss and punishment, heaven and hell, are not about the afterlife at all. Theyre about controlling human behavior with fear and guilt. ...

We dont need a savior. If Jesus died for your sins, you are one wretched human being. I dont think thats good news.

Terry Mattingly leads GetReligion.org and lives in Oak Ridge. He is a senior fellow at the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi.

Terry Mattingly leads GetReligion.org and lives in Oak Ridge. He is a senior fellow at the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi.

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Human Behavior

Pandemic Bird-Watching Created a Data Boomand a Conundrum – WIRED

On a morning in late September, Kestin Thomas stood next to the towering glass facade of the Time Warner building in Manhattan holding a dead bird. The small body was still warm in his hand, but he couldnt feel the flutter of a heartbeat or the soft puff of breath escaping. He recorded the death on a data sheet, marking the time, day, and location. Then he put the bird in a plastic bag and took it home, leaving it in the freezer for a day before finally dropping the body off at the New York City Audubon Society.

It was heartbreaking, he says.

Thomas is one of many people who took up birding during the pandemic, inspired by the sparrows he saw on his daily walks. I realized how adorable they are and that theyre living in the city amongst us and thriving, he says. He started taking pictures and sound recordings, identifying the birds with the help of apps like Merlin and eBird. Those entries add information to databases that scientists use to study migration and behavior. All of those observations that people are submitting, they go into very advanced modeling to create distribution maps for species, to look at trends of their populations, says Andrew Farnsworth, a senior research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology which maintains both apps.

Now Thomas is also a volunteer with the Audubon Societys Project Safe Flight, which is collecting a different kind of data. The group enlists people to monitor New York City buildings during the fall and spring migration seasons to record the number of birds killed or injured by flying into windows.

Bird-watching has boomed during the pandemic, and all that extra interest has translated into citizen science initiatives seeing a huge swell in participation. With the fall migration now in full swing, this army of avid birders is amassing a wealth of data about how weather, human movements, artificial lights, and city infrastructure can affect birds as they travel. Farnsworth notes that while both Cornell projects have grown every year since their inception over a decade ago, the increase in users, downloads, and data over the past 18 months was unprecedented. Pandemic time was really off the charts, he says.

eBird, which allows birders to note which species theyve spottedand wherehad a more than 40 percent increase in sightings in April 2020 over the previous year. Thats more than double the apps normal annual growth, according to data provided by Farnsworth. This February, 140,000 users logged on, to date the greatest number of users in a single month and a 50 percent increase over last February. Now, there are over a billion entries.

The same is true for Merlin, which helps birders make identifications through pictures, audio recordings, or descriptions of the birds color, size, and location. This February, the app was installed on 200,000 new devicesa 175 percent increase over the previous yearand it had more than 611,000 active users, double the number recorded in February 2020.

eBird was already an immensely useful database that scientists have used to study the bald eagle population, examine the effect of extreme weather on birds, and show changes in species songs. Now pandemic-era entries are helping them understand how human activityor the lack thereofaffects birds. One study published this month in Science Advances by researchers at the University of Manitoba used eBird data from the United States and Canada to examine bird behavior in areas that normally have lots of people, like cities, airports, and major roads. The researchers reported that during lockdown, bird activity increased for more than 80 percent of the species they studied, including hummingbirds, bald eagles, and barn swallows.

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Pandemic Bird-Watching Created a Data Boomand a Conundrum - WIRED

Human Behavior

Enhancing communications with AI to move beyond the ‘Contact Center’ – AMEinfo

An AMEinfo exclusive

CSA technology understands, analyzes, and automates voice conversations in real-time, including transcription of calls, in-call agent coaching, automation of after-call work, and more.

Uniphore, a leadingConversational Service Automation (CSA) company, recently released survey results revealing UAE consumer perspectives on the challenges and opportunities forvideo conversations especially that 56% of them reported they spent significantly more time on video last year than in prior years.

The survey highlighted that over the past 18+ months, UAE consumers experienced both appreciation and frustration for what video conversations have to offer.

However, the survey also served to announce Uniphores expansion of its CSA capabilities and offerings, combiningAI-based voice and video automation technology.

Commenting on the research findings, Umesh Sachdev, CEO and co-founder of Uniphore said: Through AI and automation technology, companies and business leaders can create better experiences for customers, pick up on nonverbal cues that they may have missed, and provide insights using data that is decipherable and actionable.

The same survey results showed 85% of UAE respondents are open to using automation or AI tools to improve video conversations.

To find out more about the move beyond the contact center, AMEinfo conducted an exclusive interview withRavi Saraogi, Co-founder & President APAC, Uniphore.

Expanding the Uniphore offering

When looking at AI in communications, the Uniphore application has traditionally been focused on the contact center, assisting agents with real-time support, doing post-call reporting, and so on. But the company has been keen on extending this outside of the contact center.

Uniphore has been focused on disrupting a $500 billion enterprise AI and automation market with unique capabilities that analyze and interpret the customer experience (CX) at the contact center where the majority of conversations take place and derive better engagement and productivity solutions, Ravi started.

Over the last couple of years, Uniphore has empowered its platform with capabilities around AI and NLP technology, but it complimented this with major acquisitions.

In October 2020, the company acquired a third-party license for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology from NTT DATA to automate the front office for modern contact centers.

In January 2021, Uniphore also acquired Emotions Research lab, a Spain-based AI company that analyses human behavior through facial recognition of emotions, and combined it with its CSA solution to enhance its offerings.

In July 2021, Uniphore announced its agreement to acquireJacada, a CX pioneer having the industrys leading low-code no-code platform for contact center automation allowing to solve complex contact center challenges and empowering the design and implementation of transformational CX quickly and easily.

We can now offer a comprehensive platform where business users can realize state-of-the-art digital transformation via robust AI-led CX solutions, resulting in significant ROI, Ravi assured.

How reliable is AI in CX?

Ravi agrees that it is very difficult for machines to depict 100% what a human can do, what they are fthinking or feeling.

The idea is to bring productivity into play. Even if the system is 70-80% accurate, you can bring about 70-80% productivity improvement in the contact center or in conversations that organizations are having, thus generating tremendous business gains, Ravi offered.

We dont have lie detectors, but, for corporate entities, there are particular ways to check if the call went according to script or if the delivery was as anticipated by the consumer. Similarly, education organizations can verify if school children were alert enough, if teachers put enough markers in place to create attentiveness or asked the right questions or not, and if students were responsive.

The Uniphore system puts enough parameters in place which AI tracks while providing real-time guidance to users be it to improvesales or enhance educational performances.

Uniphores conversational automation platform

Conversation service automation using AI has multiple different aspects, including speech recognition to understand what the person is saying, how, and why.

Uniphore uses voice biometrics to authenticate the person using his voice, detect and understand his/her emotions by the way they speak, and use NLP to understand the intent of the caller, Ravi explained.

Uniphore Acquisitions that extend this functionality

RPA Technology from NTT Data automates processes in the contact center. For example, if the customer wants to change their address, the bot can do this in the background, allowing the agent to focus more intently on the softer human side of the call.

Emotion Research Lab uses AI and ML to identify emotion and engagement levels in real-time over video-based interactions.

Jacada uses low-code, no-code technology that now integrates with the RPA capabilities so enterprise customers can quickly and easily create workflows in the contact center to streamline and automate processes.

Using bots, Uniphore has unique capabilities to automate certain actions that agents or speakers on the phone or video call need not take anymore. This allows quicker tech deployment for enterprise customers but also with partners across the ecosystem who can now launch a low-code no-code platform across different use cases, Ravi explained.

Using virtual agents, customers need not wait a long time to get answers for their queries or for someone to show up on a call. Repetitive responses like verifying fund transfers or address changes are done by our system which is interpreting the right intent, and ensuring accurate delivery is driven across all the systems and elements.

B2B use cases

When multiple individuals are on a call, its hard for humans to keep track of everyone. Uniphore uses AI to help read facial queues and judge interests and address sentiments. This can then be used to generate alerts to participants or tips, during the call, to help better engage with their audiences.

It can have an immediate impact on generating better sales for retail-based organizations as well as creating more effective communications and levels of engagements in audio formats or over video.

In educational institutions, teachers can verify if students are being attentive. With remote work video conferencing, be it with staff or clients, AI can help keep engagement levels between stakeholders high.

Finally, AI can verify if the participants have discussed points meant to be discussed, or tabulate if all the is were dotted and the Ts were crossed.

Gauging sentiment and giving coverage of that to areas around marketing, sales, and internal company collaboration are areas we cover globally, Ravi said.

In the region, we have clients in contact centers using our technology, but we are at a stage where we just acquired video AI capabilities, are integrating it in our platform, and working out use case scenarios that can create impact across enterprises in this region.

Can privacy issues arise from this technology?

It is not unthinkable to assume that when a conversation is taking place, with AI being present to track words said and actions taken, the caller might have concerns about privacy issues.

When we started around contact center practices, the intent was to keep the agent as a focal point. All the technologies were created around the agents to really uplift their productivity. For video communication, we are not trying to create a sense that someone is watching, but rather uplift the existing communication and bring about benefits to all stakeholders on the call, Ravi explained.

Ravi went on to say that different countries have different laws around privacy. Before we start a conversation, we take the callers consent by announcing that the call is being recorded, and we ask Are you ok with it?, Ravi said.

Whats more important is that Uniphore is not recording conversations but rather streaming live ones while giving real-time guidance. Its only in the event organizations need post conversation analysis that a recording is initiated by consent.

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Cell Biology

Faster healing of wounds can decrease pain and suffering and save lives – WSAZ-TV

Published: Oct. 4, 2021 at 4:02 PM EDT|Updated: 23 hours ago

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Billions of dollars are spent every year because of complications of wound healing. Researchers at the College of Medicine at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando have discovered a new technology to accelerate wound healing. Their research is published in the Life Cell Biology and Tissue Engineering Journal (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34575027/). The UCF lab's research focus is to develop stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, wound healing and ALS.

Researchers at the College of Medicine at UCF in Orlando have discovered a new technology to accelerate wound healing.

Dr. Frederick R Carrick, Professor of Neurology at the College of Medicine at UCF, reported that animals with wounds and injured stem cells that were placed on a special ceramic blanket healed much faster than controls. Gladiator Therapeutics manufactured the therapeutic ceramic blanket that was used in this research. The researchers reported that wounds in animals and in stem cells were both repaired significantly faster when they treated them with the ceramic blankets.

This research was designed and accepted for presentation at the USA Department of Defense's premier scientific meeting, the Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS). Dr Carrick stated that the new ceramic blankets do not need a power supply and are ideally suited for use in both combat and civilian wound treatments. Large wounds, such as those suffered in combat are easily infected and may result in increased suffering, disability and death amongst Warfighters. Faster healing of wounds can decrease pain and suffering and save lives.

The UCF College of Medicine research team is conducting ongoing research on the use of the Gladiator ceramic blanket in animal models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury and wound care. They have recently developed a new Alzheimer's therapy combining drugs that affect stem cells that increase the development of brain cells and improve brain function. The UCF lab is also the first to transplant stem cells isolated from the human brain to aged rats where they showed increased development of new brain cells and improvement of cognition.

Dr. Kiminobu Sugaya, Professor of Medicine at the UCF College of Medicine is excited about their findings. Dr. Sugaya stated that the benefits of using the Gladiator ceramic blanket are that it can be used anywhere without a power supply or the side effects that are commonly found when injecting chemicals or drugs.

Further information about this study:

drfrcarrick@post.harvard.edu 321-868-6464

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SOURCE University of Central Florida College of Medicine

The above press release was provided courtesy of PRNewswire. The views, opinions and statements in the press release are not endorsed by Gray Media Group nor do they necessarily state or reflect those of Gray Media Group, Inc.

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Cell Biology

EMBL and University of Tartu sign MoU to boost scientific collaboration – Science Business

Since June 2019, Estonia has been a prospect member state of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has now been signed between EMBL and the University of Tartu, a leading centre of research and training. The MoU aims to strengthen cooperation between EMBL and the life science research community in Estonia, building on the very successful links in the context of the prospect membership.

This MoU also formalises previous exchanges and research collaborations between the two institutions. In February 2021, EMBL and the Estonian Research Council organised a joint workshop in which many Estonian researchers were actively involved, including participants and speakers from the University of Tartu. On this occasion, EMBL Director General Edith Heard presented the next EMBL Programme, Molecules to Ecosystems, which has the aim of understanding life in its natural context. EMBLs scientific plans for the next five years (20222026) is the first pan-European molecular biology programme for environmental and human health and has collaboration across disciplines and sectors at its core.

Confronted with global challenges and urgent societal and environmental needs, fostering cooperation and integrating European life science have become essential endeavours. Estonia has been a very engaged prospect member of EMBL since 2019, and I view the signing of the MoU with the University of Tartu as a catalyst for collaboration between the two organisations, says Edith Heard. The MoU stands as a firm commitment to enhancing cutting-edge scientific research, knowledge sharing, and training, especially in the context of the new EMBL Programme. This will benefit Estonias life science landscape as we prepare for the countrys accession to EMBL as a full member state.

During the workshop in February, EMBL Deputy Director General Ewan Birney highlighted the work of EMBLs European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in human genetics and personalised medicine. Other talks by EMBL Heads of Faculty touched upon bioinformatics training opportunities and some of the themes in the new EMBL Programme. Possibilities for joint collaboration were also discussed, particularly on several of the programmes new transversal themes, such as Human Ecosystems, Planetary Biology, Microbial Ecosystems, and Data Science.

Estonia has shown great success in attracting talent, so we really look forward to collaborating with all those excellent researchers. Im thrilled to see what discoveries come from this exciting new alliance says Ewan Birney.

This formalised collaboration between EMBL and the University of Tartu is already helping to forge stronger links between EMBL and the science landscape in Estonia. Estonian researchers have had individual contacts with EMBL, but through the MoU we are now committed to advance the joint undertakings at more systematic and strategic levels to help to boost the career of young Estonian talent, further the development of joint scientific infrastructures and increase the overall volume of interactions and activities both in experimental biology as well as biological data management and analysis, says Jaak Vilo, one of the EMBL Council delegates from Estonia and current Head of the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Tartu.

Toivo Maimets, Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Tartu and former president of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC)* of which Estonia has been a member since 2006, sees the MoU between the University of Tartu and EMBL as the next important step to carry on the rapid developments of Estonian science. Tighter collaboration between the EMBL and our university will accelerate our full membership in EMBL and bring even more possibilities to gain from these top-level international professional networks, says Maimets.

*The European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) is an intergovernmental organisation that provides a framework for European cooperation in the field of molecular biology and closely-related research areas.

This article was first published on October 4 by University of Tartu.

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EMBL and University of Tartu sign MoU to boost scientific collaboration - Science Business

Cell Biology

October: Henrietta Lacks statue | News and features – University of Bristol

A life-size bronze statue of Henrietta Lacks, a Black American woman whose cells were the first ever to survive and multiply outside the body, and whose use changed the course of modern medicine, has been unveiled at the University of Bristol by members of her family to honour the 70th anniversary of her cells first being used.

Her sonLawrence Lacks, who was 17 when his mother passed away,was joined by her grandson Alan Wilks and his wife Pam, granddaughter Jeri Lacks-Whye and great-granddaughters Victoria Baptiste and Veronica Robinson for the unveiling this afternoon Monday 4 October 2021.

The statue,commissioned by the University earlier this year,is located inthe heart of thecampusprecinct next to Royal Fort House. It is thework of Bristol artist HelenWilson-Roeand is the first public statue of a Black woman made by a Black woman to be permanently installed in the UK.

It follows the exhibiting of two of Helens portraits of Henrietta Lacks and Cllr Cleo Lake, Bristols first Black female Lord Mayor, which have been on display in the Wills Memorial Buildingsince October2020.

Henrietta Lacks wasa young wife and motherwhodiedin 1951of an unusually aggressive form of cervical cancer. During surgery, a sample of cells was taken from the tumour and was sent to a laboratory where they were found to be thefirst living human cells ever to survive and multiply outside the human body.Henriettas cells weretaken without her or her family's knowledge or consent,and it was only in 1975 that by chance the family found out about her legacy.

Because Henriettas cells were able to proliferate indefinitely, they formed the first scientifically definedimmortalhuman cell line, opening the door to all kinds of experiments and research on cell behaviour.

These cells madepossible some of the most important medical advances of all time including the development of the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, gene-mapping, IVF and cloning.

They became known as HeLa cells - taking the first two letters of Henriettas first and last names. HeLa cells are used in almost every major hospital and science-based University in the world, including the University of Bristol where they have been used most recently, for COVID-19 research.

The Universitys Faculty of Life Sciences has been working with students and staff to look at how it can diversify its teaching curriculum with one focus being to highlight previously overlooked figures which will include Henrietta Lacks and the important ethical issues and debates that are part of her story.

The University is also announcing the launch of The Henrietta Lacks Studentship - a six-week paid summer internship for an undergraduate student to work in its laboratories on cell biology and, with the support of the Lacks Family, is planning free in-person visits to the University for KS4 and KS5 pupils to learn more about cell biology. Other education science events in collaboration with the Lacks family both in the UK and overseas are underway.

The University is collaborating with the Lacks family-ledHELA 100: The Henrietta Lacks Initiative, which began during her centennial year and features aworldwide education and advocacy tour. The statue unveiling will also be live streamed around the world as part of the HELA100 Colloquium, commemorating 70 years since Henriettas incredible HeLa cells changed the world and her untimely death on 4 October 1951.

Attendees will learn about the worldwide advancements made bythe cellsand Henriettas descendants to educate future generations on the impact of her immortal HeLa cells while promoting health equity and social justice.

Jeri Lacks-Whye, Henrietta Lacks Granddaughter, said:As the worldcommemorates 70 years since Henrietta Lacks HeLa cells changed the world,we also reflect on my grandmother's untimely passing. It is only fitting that she be memorialised to educate future generations on her legacy and the importance of advancing health equity and social justice for all. The Lacks Family is honoured to begin our HELA100 worldwide tour with the University of Bristol and Helen Wilson Roe for the unveiling of this historic statue.

Helen Wilson-Roe said: Henriettas statue will be the first public statue of a Black woman made by a Black woman in the UK and will be installed permanently on the University of Bristol campus. May our ancestors continue to show us the way to walk.

As a child growing up in Bristol there were no statues of Black women that I could identify with.So,knowing that my children and their grandchildren and great grandchildren will be able to see Henrietta's statue, is just fantastic, especially at this time when Bristol is starting to address its past.

I have been researching about Henrietta Lacks independently for over 20 years. My mission now is to finish painting all 24 portraits of the Lacks family and gift the portraits to the family so that they retain full control of their legacy.

Professor Jeremy Tavare, Dean of theFaculty of Life Sciencesat the University of Bristol,who is also a biochemist,added: Many of our biomedical science researcherswhose work uses human cellshave used Henriettas cells in their research or with collaborators, including myself.We all owe Henrietta an enormous debt of gratitude.

I am absolutely delighted to be able to host this beautiful statue of Henrietta on our campus so we can visually honour her contribution to important discoveries we have made in Bristol over the last 70 years. I feel intensely proud that her family have been so supportive in our doing so. Her statue will do so much to raise her profile with our students and also with children in our local communities.

Professor Judith Squires, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, said: Henrietta Lacks legacy to science research and health care globally cannot be underestimated.Thisstatuecelebratesthe impact her cells have made to our research here in Bristol, and indeed research around the world.

The Lacks family have a unique relationship with Helen Wilson-Roe, who is a local artist and wished for her statue to be in Bristol.We are pleased to be able to give it a permanent home right here on our campus.

The statue also marks a significant step in addressing the lack of representation of women, and women of colour, in public artwork in our diverse multicultural city. As public art, the local community are most welcome to visit to see this wonderful statue for themselves and learn more about Henrietta Lacks and her legacy.

Read more about Henrietta's story here.

About HELA100: The Henrietta Lacks Initiative

August 1, 2020, Henrietta Lacks100th birthday, marked the launch of The Lacks Family-led year-long HELA100: Henrietta Lacks Centennial CELLebration. In honor of Henrietta Lacks101st birthday, The Lacks Family announced the advancement of their philanthropic effort HELA100: The Henrietta Lacks Initiative. This year HELA100 commemorates 70 years since Henrietta Lacks HeLa cells changed the world and her untimely death on October 4, 1951. HELA100 educates future generations on the impact of Henrietta Lacks HeLa cells while promoting health equity and social justice. Learn more at hela100.org

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Cell Biology

Mantarray: Scalable Human-relevant 3D Engineered Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Tissues for Therapeutics Discovery Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Xtalks -…

Learn how these advanced 3D tissue models generated on the Mantarray platform can improve the physiological relevance of preclinical cardiac and skeletal muscle models, accelerating the discovery of new medicines.

TORONTO (PRWEB) October 05, 2021

3D cellular models and organs-on-chips are poised to add tremendous value by providing human data earlier in the drug discovery pipeline. There is intense interest in adopting these 3D models in preclinical and translational research, but their complex implementation has remained a roadblock for many labs.

In this webinar, Curi Bio will present its Mantarray platform, which represents an easy-to-use, flexible, and scalable system for generating 3D EMTs at high-throughput with the ability to measure contractility in parallel. The platform features a novel method of casting 3D tissues that can be easily performed by nearly any cell biology researcher and can be readily adapted to a variety of cell lines and extracellular matrices. In addition, Mantarrays novel magnetic sensing modality permits contractility measurement of 24 tissues in parallel and in real time, while the cloud data analysis portal takes the guesswork out of analyzing and comparing results across experiments.

Register for this webinar to hear an overview of the technology, along with application examples across various use cases, including:

Learn how these advanced 3D tissue models generated on the Mantarray platform can improve the physiological relevance of preclinical cardiac and skeletal muscle models, accelerating the discovery of new medicines.

Join Dr. Nicholas Geisse, Chief Science Officer at Curi Bio, for the live webinar on Friday, October 22, 2021 at 1pm EDT.

For more information, or to register for this event, visit Mantarray: Scalable Human-Relevant 3D-Engineered Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Tissues for Safety and Efficacy Studies.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.comFor information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

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Cell Biology

Study reveals the underlying mechanisms behind obesity and type 2 diabetes link – News-Medical.Net

It is well known that obesity affects the body's insulin production and over time risks leading to type 2 diabetes and several other metabolic diseases. Now researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found further explanation for why fat cells cause metabolic morbidity. The study, published in Nature Medicine, may have an impact on the treatment of comorbidity in obesity with already available drugs.

Obesity is a rapidly growing global public health problem, not least among children and young people. Many metabolic diseases, among them type 2 diabetes, are strongly associated with obesity. In order to reverse the trend, more knowledge is needed, among other things, about how fat cells (adipocytes) contribute to various harmful processes in tissues and organs.

When fat cells are enlarged, they begin to secrete factors that cause inflammation of the adipose tissue. Fat cell enlargement is also associated with insulin resistance, when cells in the body do not respond to insulin as they should. The important task of insulin is to regulate energy, glucose, for the body's cells. When that function is disturbed, as with insulin resistance, the risk of type 2 diabetes increases.

This relationship is well documented, but there has been a lack of knowledge about the underlying mechanisms behind enlarged fat cells (fat cell hypertrophy) and the secretion of pro-inflammatory substances.

Now researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that in obesity and insulin resistance, the cell activity of fat cells changes. As fat cells increase in cell size, nuclear size and nuclear DNA content also increases.

The process of cells not dividing but increasing in DNA content and cell size (endoreplication) is common among plants and animals. In contrast, the process has not been described for human fat cells (adipocytes), which can increase in size more than 200 times over their lifespan."

Qian Li, Researcher, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, and Joint First Author

The natural process of fat cells increasing in size has several negative effects on health. The authors demonstrate that elevated levels of insulin in the blood cause premature aging, senescence, in some cells in the adipose tissue.

"Our results show that senescent fat cells increase the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors, and drive inflammation and pathology in human adipose tissue. This in turn affects the health of the whole body," says Carolina Hagberg, researcher at the Department of Medicine, Solna at Karolinska Institutet, and joint first author.

The results are based on analysis of adipose tissue from 63 people with BMI under 30 who underwent umbilical hernia surgery or cholecysectomy for gallstone disease, as well as 196 people with BMI over 30 who underwent bariatric surgery for obesity in Stockholm.

Using a commonly prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes, the researchers were able to block the formation of senescent fat cells and reduce the secretion of fat cell-based pro-inflammatory factors.

"These studies identify an unappreciated aspect of human adipocyte biology, the activation of a cell cycle program in obesity and hyperinsulinemia, which could pave the way for novel treatment strategies for obesity and associated co-morbidities, such as type 2 diabetes," says Kirsty Spalding, researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, and the study's last author.

Source:

Journal reference:

Li, Q., et al. (2021) Obesity and hyperinsulinemia drive adipocytes to activate a cell cycle program and senesce. Nature Medicine. doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01501-8.

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Study reveals the underlying mechanisms behind obesity and type 2 diabetes link - News-Medical.Net

Cell Biology

Gene Identified in Mice and Monkeys Acts as Natural Antiviral Against HIV, Ebola, and Other Deadly Infections – Genetic Engineering &…

A research team led by scientists at the University of Utah (U of U) Health and the Rockefeller University has determined how a genetic mutation found in mice and in some New World monkeys interferes with how viruses such as HIV and Ebola infect cells. The gene, called RetroCHMP3, encodes an altered protein that disrupts the ability of certain viruses to exit an infected cell, and so prevents it from going on to infect other cells. The researchers suggest that the finding could help inform the future development of strategies for human therapeutics.

This was an unexpected discovery, said Nels Elde, PhD, senior author of the study and an evolutionary geneticist in the department of human genetics at U of U Health. We were surprised that slowing down our cell biology just a little bit throws virus replication off its game.

The team reported its findings in Cell, in a paper titled, RetroCHMP3 blocks budding of enveloped viruses without blocking cytokinesis.

In humans and other animals, a protein called charged multivesicular body protein 3, or CHMP3, is well known for playing a key part in cellular mechanisms that are vital for maintaining cellular membrane integrity, intercellular signaling, and cell division. The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) pathway mediates essential cellular membrane fission events such as multivesicular body formation, cytokinetic abscission, and resealing of the post-mitotic nuclear envelope, the authors explained. Some viruses, including HIV, which are known as enveloped viruses, hijack this ESCRT pathway to exit infected cells, which they do by encasing themselves in the cell membrane and then budding off from the host cell.

The new study has found that the variant version of CHMP3, known as RetroCHMP3, which is found in monkeys and mice, delays that process long enough that the virus can no longer escape. RetroCHMP3 originated as a duplicated copy of CHMP3. So while humans only have the original CHMP3, species such as monkeys, mice, and other animals, have retroCHMP3 or other variants.

Based on their research, Elde and his colleagues suspected that the duplications of CHMP3 that they discovered in primates and mice blocked the ability of enveloped viruses to co-opt the ESCRT pathway into their escape mechanism, as protection against viruses like HIV and other viral diseases.

Building on their hypothesis, Elde and other scientists began exploring whether variants of CHMP3 might work as an antiviral. In laboratory experiments conducted elsewhere, a shorter, altered version of human CHMP3 successfully prevented HIV from budding off cells. There was, however, a glitch: the modified protein also disrupted important cellular functions, causing the cells to die.

Unlike other researchers, Elde and his colleagues at U of U Health had naturally occurring variants of CHMP3 from other animals available. So, working in collaboration with Sanford Simon, PhD, co-author and professor of cellular biophysics at the Rockefeller University, along with Phuong Tieu Schmitt, PharmD, research associate and Anthony Schmitt, PhD, professor of molecular virology, both at Pennsylvania State University, they tried a different approach.

Using genetic tools, they coaxed human cells to produce the version of retroCHMP3 found in squirrel monkeys. When they then infected the cells with HIV, they found that the virus had difficulty budding off from the cells, essentially stopping them in their tracks. When expressed in human cells, these retroCHMP3 proteins potently inhibit the release of retroviruses, paramyxoviruses, and filoviruses, the investigators wrote. And this occurred without disrupting metabolic signaling or related cellular functions that can cause cell death. Remarkably, retroCHMP3 proteins have evolved to reduce interactions with other ESCRT-III factors and have little effect on cellular ESCRT processes, revealing routes for decoupling cellular ESCRT functions from viral exploitation, the team noted.

The scientists also suggested that an antiviral approach based on exploiting retroCHMP may prove more durable than existing antiviral strategies. Additionally,the observation that retroCHMP3 alters ESCRT pathway function instead of targeting a viral protein raises theintriguing possibility that retroCHMP3 may be more resistant to viral counter-adaptations than other antiviral proteins that directly inhibit viral replication, they stated.

Were excited about the work because we showed some time ago that many different enveloped viruses use this pathway, called the ESCRT pathway, to escape cells, said Wes Sundquist, PhD, co-corresponding author of the study and chair of the department of biochemistry at the University of Utah. We always thought that this might be a point at which cells could defend themselves against such viruses, but we didnt see how that could happen without interfering with other very important cellular functions.

From an evolutionary perspective, Elde believes this represents a new type of immunity that can arise quickly to protect against short-lived threats. We thought the ESCRT pathway was an Achilles heel that viruses like HIV and Ebola could always exploit as they bud off and infect new cells, Elde said. RetroCHMP3 flipped the script, making the viruses vulnerable. Moving forward, we hope to learn from this lesson and use it to counter viral diseases.

More specifically, that lesson raises the possibility that an intervention that slows down the process may be inconsequential for the host, but provide us with a new anti-retroviral, added Simon.

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Gene Identified in Mice and Monkeys Acts as Natural Antiviral Against HIV, Ebola, and Other Deadly Infections - Genetic Engineering &...

Cell Biology

Aging-US: Cellular senescence in lymphoid organs and immunosenescence – EurekAlert

image:With advancing age, the stromal cells in the lining of sinuses, that demarcate follicular zone from the marginal zone, become less organized accompanied with an altered localization of various cell types. The inflammatory environment created by the accumulation of SnCs impairs the functionality of several cells residing in the spleen. This functional impairment mediated improper antigen presenting capabilities lead to the establishment of an inadequate T-cell response against pathogenic invasion. Abbreviations: SnC: Senescent cell; SASP: Senescence associated secretory phenotype; ROS: Reactive Oxygen Species. view more

Credit: Correspondence to: Daohong Zhou email: zhoudaohong@cop.ufl.edu

Aging-USpublished "Cellular senescence in lymphoid organs and immunosenescence" which reported that immunosenescence is a multi-faceted phenomenon at the root of age-associated immune dysfunction.

Though both cellular senescence and immunosenescence have been studied extensively and implicated in various pathologies, their relationship has not been greatly explored. In the wake of an ongoing pandemic that disproportionately affects the elderly, immunosenescence as a function of age has become a topic of great importance.

The goal of this review is to explore the role of cellular senescence in age-associated lymphoid organ dysfunction and immunosenescence, and provide a framework to explore therapies to rejuvenate the aged immune system.

Dr. Daohong Zhou fromThe University of Floridasaid, "Aging is the gradual process of organismal deterioration which is associated with a multitude of age-related disorders and diseases that make one wonder if aging itself is a disease that needs to be addressed."

A shadow is cast on the benefits of longevity if the elderly are faced with the possibility of a decline in their quality of life. The world currently has over 700 million people who are over the age of 65, a number that is projected to grow rapidly in the near future. As advancing age is strongly correlated to decreased quality of life and increased risk of several age-related diseases, these demographics seem more dismal in prospering countries, with the USA and the UK having about 1618% of their population over the age of 65.

The silver lining to this otherwise tragic situation is that results from recent studies indicate that the aging process and the pace of organismal deterioration is malleable and can be influenced greatly by physiological, genetic, dietary and pharmaceutical interventions.

The Zhou Research Team concluded in theirAging-US Research Output, "The increasing array of genetic models of SnC clearance along with a growing panel of senolytic and senostatic agents, provide a unique opportunity for scientists to answer these questions to lay a strong foundation to this new avenue of research in immunosenescence. Ultimately, gaining a deeper understanding of the interaction between cellular senescence and immunosenescence will help in the development of improved therapeutics that will aid in the conservation of our vitality as we age."

Full Text -https://www.aging-us.com/article/203405/text

Correspondence to: Daohong Zhouemail:zhoudaohong@cop.ufl.edu

Keywords:cellular senescence,immunosenescence,immune senescence,senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP),thymus

About Aging-US

Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research as well as topics beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, cancer, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways.

To learn more about Aging-US, please visithttp://www.Aging-US.comor connect with@AgingJrnl

Aging-US is published byImpact Journals, LLCplease visithttp://www.ImpactJournals.comor connect with@ImpactJrnls

Media Contact18009220957x105MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM

Cellular senescence in lymphoid organs and immunosenescence

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