Bone marrow contains hematopoetic stem cells, the precursors to every blood cell type. These cells spring into action following bone marrow transplants, bone marrow injury and during systemic infection, creating new blood cells, including immune cells, in a process known as hematopoiesis.

A new study led by University of Pennsylvania and Technical University of Dresden scientists has identified an important regulator of this process, a protein called Del-1. Targeting it, the researchers noted, could be an effective way to improve stem cell transplants for both donors and recipients. There may also be ways to modulate levels of Del-1 in patients with certain blood cancers to enhance immune cell production. The findings are reported this week in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Because the hematopoetic stem cell niche is so important for the creation of bone marrow and blood cells and because Del-1 is a soluble protein and is easily manipulated, one can see that it could be a target in many potential applications, said George Hajishengallis, the Thomas W. Evans Centennial Professor in the Department of Microbiology in Penns School of Dental Medicine and a senior author on the work.

I think that Del-1 represents a major regulator of the hematopoetic stem cell niche, said Triantafyllos Chavakis, co-senior author on the study and a professor at the Technical University of Dresden. It will be worthwhile to study its expression in the context of hematopoetic malignancy.

For Hajishengallis, the route to studying Del-1 in the bone marrow began in his field of dental medicine. Working with Chavakis, he had identified Del-1 as a potential drug target for gum disease after finding that it prevents inflammatory cells from moving into the gums.

Both scientists and their labs had discovered that Del-1 was also expressed in the bone marrow and began following up to see what its function was there.

In the beginning, I thought it would have a simple function, like regulating the exit of mature leukocytes [white blood cells] from the marrow into the periphery, Hajishengallis said, something analogous to what it was doing in the gingiva. But it turned out it had a much more important and global role than what I had imagined.

The researchers investigations revealed that Del-1 was expressed by at least three cell types in the bone marrow that support hematopoetic stem cells: endothelial cells, CAR cells and osteoblasts. Using mice deficient in Del-1, they found that the protein promotes proliferation and differentiation of hematopoetic stem cells, sending more of these progenitor cells down a path toward becoming myeloid cells, such as macrophages and neutrophils, rather than lymphocytes, such as T cells and B cells.

In bone marrow transplant experiments, the team discovered that the presence of Del-1 in recipient bone marrow is required for the transplanted stem cells to engraft in the recipient and to facilitate the process of myelopoesis, the production of myeloid cells.

When the researchers mimicked a systemic infection in mice, animals deficient in Del-1 were slower to begin making myeloid cells again compared to those with normal Del-1 levels.

We saw roles for Del-1 in both steady state and emergency conditions, Hajishengallis said.

Hajishengallis, Chavakis and their colleagues identified the protein on hematopoetic stem cells with which Del-1 interacts, the 3 integrin, perhaps pointing to a target for therapeutic interventions down the line.

The scientists see potential applications in bone marrow and stem cell transplants, for both donors and recipients. In donors, blocking the interaction between Del-1 and hematopoetic stem cells could enhance the mobilization of those progenitors into the bloodstream. This could be helpful for increasing donor cell numbers for transplantation. Transplant recipients, on the other hand, may need enhanced Del-1 interaction to ensure the transplanted cells engraft and begin making new blood cells more rapidly.

In addition, people undergoing chemotherapy who develop febrile neutropenia, associated with low levels of white blood cells, might benefit from the role of Del-1 in supporting the production of immune-related blood cells such as neutrophils.

Its easy to think of practical applications for these findings, said Hajishengallis. Now we need to find out whether it works in practice, so our studies continue.

Ioannis Mitroulis, Lan-Sun Chen and Rashim Pal Singh of TU-Dresden were co-lead authors on the study, and Ben Wielockx of TU-Dresden was a co-senior author along with Hajishengallis and Chavakis. They were joined by coauthors Tetsuhiro Kajikawa, Kavita Hosur, Tomoki Maekawa and Baomei Wang of Penn Dental Medicine; Ioannis Kourtzelis, Matina Economopoulou, Maria Troullinaki, Athanasios Ziogas, Klara Ruppova, Pallavi Subramanian, Panayotis Verginis, Malte Wobus, Martin Bornhuser and Tatyana Grinenko of TU-Dresden; Torsten Tonn of the German Red Cross Blood Donation Service in Dresden; and Marianna Di Scala and Andrs Hidalgo of the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research.

The study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, European Commission, European Research Council and National Institutes of Health (grants AI068730, DE024153, DE024716, DE0152 54 and DE026152).

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Bone Marrow Protein May Be Target for Improving Stem Cell Transplants - Penn: Office of University Communications

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Bone Marrow Protein May Be Target for Improving Stem Cell Transplants – Penn: Office of University Communications | August 28th, 2017

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Roy Palmer is about to embark on the next phase of his pioneering treatment.

But it comes with risks he is prepared to take in the hope it will cure the debilitating condition.

The 43-year-old father of two from Quedgeley is determined it will work. He was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS but now has the secondary progressive form of the disease, which means it gets steadily worse.

He said: I fought for a year to get hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and many people told me I didnt fit the criteria but I didnt let that stop me.

Mr Palmer had a week of injections to draw the stem cells from his bone marrow.

He and his wife Helen travelled to Hammersmith Hospital in London where he was given a day of chemotherapy.

Mr Palmer lost his hair as a result and was left feeling sick and tired.

The stem cells have been frozen and will be reintroduced to his body after another aggressive course of chemotherapy.

It will be fed directly into a main artery in his chest before Mr Palmer spends the next four weeks in isolation.

He will start the treatment on September 18 his 24th wedding anniversary.

Mr Palmer said: Im not someone to sit around and feel sorry for myself.

If the treatment works then, oh my God, I couldnt begin to describe what it would mean to me.

He added: To be able to walk out of my front door would mean the world.

I know Im lucky to be able to get the treatment. Im worried, my immune system will be obliterated, but I have to give this everything. Im a fighter and determined to make this work.

Mr Palmers family back his decision to undergo HSCT treatment, although they worry about the effect it will have.

His 45-year-old wife said: When they give the chemotherapy it brings the body back down to zero.

It will stop any immune system and take some time for the body to start getting back to normal.

When Roys levels are up they will start to reintroduce the stem cells.

The MS Society website says HSCT aims to reset the immune system to stop it attacking the central nervous system.

It uses chemotherapy to remove the harmful immune cells and then rebuilds the immune system using haematopoietic stem cells found in bone marrow.

They can produce all the different cells in the blood.

Mrs Palmer said: Im happy for Roy to take that risk and to support him but it is a lethal dose of chemo.

The treatment can be done abroad and costs around 60,000. In the past we were considering that option but there is no aftercare.

The couples daughter Abi, 12, said: I feel a little scared for dad but okay. I cant remember him walking.

And 20-year-old son Jack said: Dad has been in a chair for about 10 years and to see him walk again would mean everything.

Just standing next to each other would mean the world.

Once the stem cells are back in Mr Palmers body the hope is he will make a full recovery and be free of MS,

He said: It will be great to not have to ask people to do things for me.

I do what I can but I dont like to hang around waiting.

I want people to know there is treatment and it can be a fight but Ive got to do this now.

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MS sufferer gets pioneering stem cell treatment - Gloucestershire Live

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Researchers are looking for ways eliminate the need for bone marrow donors altogether and instead use different types of cells derived from the patient in need of a transplant, says Dr Vladislav Sandler.

At the moment, people who develop leukaemia, lymphoma and otherblood diseases often need to undergo a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This is because initial treatment of the disease (front-line therapy) often fails and the disease comes back.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are vital because they constantly regenerate the blood system giving rise (differentiating) into all types of blood cells such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Sometimes,patients get cells for the HSCT from close relatives (related allogeneic transplantation), who happen to be a match or by using donor data bases that can match them with strangers (unrelated allogeneic transplantation). The patients own HSC are wiped out with chemotherapy and replaced with donated blood-forming steam cells which create healthy new blood cells free from disease.

The patients own HSC are wiped out with chemotherapy and replaced with the donated blood-forming stem cells which createhealthy new blood cellsfree from disease.

Often, there is not a perfect match between a donor and a patient but physicians try and find the closest one possible. When a match is not perfect, a risk of rejection of the newly transplanted cells significantly grows. There are several teams of researchers trying to find a way to eliminate the need for bone marrow donors altogether and instead use different types of cells derived from the patient in need of a transplant.

This work, to directly reprogram the patients own cells to create hematopoietic stem cells, (from which all cellular blood components are derived) has been going on for some time and has had some success[1][2][3]. However, it is a very long and cumbersome process to produce HSC cells from a patients own cells and it looks like this may never be a practicable solution to the problem. We simply cant seem to be able to get the newly formed HSC cells to replicate into the sufficient number of cells needed to form a viable HSCT.

What I discovered when I was at Cornell University was that there is a small subset of postnatal hemogenic endothelial cells (Hu-PHEC) which survive in the liver and blood vessels of the umbilical cord and placenta into adulthood. It has been known for quite a while that in the fetus, similar cells produce first definitive HSC. It was accepted as a dogma that they either lose their ability to do this after birth or simply disappear. However, as it often happens in science, this was not entirely correct. Hu-PHEC can be isolated from postnatal tissues and made to generate HSCde-novo.

In animal experiments, we took purified and stimulated Hu-PHEC and transplanted them into immunocompromised mice.

What we found was that the transplanted cells did engraft and created a healthy new human blood system in the recipient mice. What seemed to happen was that by putting them back into circulation within the body reactivated their ability to produce HSC cells as they doin utero.

We dont yet understand the mechanism but we are working on this and we need to work out a way to get enough cells for human transplantation.

Development of Hu-PHEC technology would create an opportunity to get rid of bone marrow/HSC donations. We would no longer have to go to a donor or a family member, but simply harvest some of these special post-natal hemogenic endothelial cells from the patients own body.

Another area of our research has been to develop a conditioning product which helps eliminate the patients diseased HSC with minimal collateral damage to the rest of the body. At the moment, patients undergo a rather terrible process of preparation for a HSCT. It involves chemotherapy and radiation and can seriously harm various unrelated healthy cells. In some cases, patients do not survive the conditioning process. We have developed a type of immune therapy which is a bi-specific antibody that redirects patients own immune cells to only attack and kill HSC. It leaves other cells alone, so does not damage reproductive system. This should mean that men and women undergoing conditioning in advance of a bone marrow transplantion would not need to undergo fertility saving treatment (no need to freeze sperm or eggs). This bi-specific antibody, which is filed for a world-wide patent, is much less dangerous and detrimental to health than current treatment options. We have proved its effectiveness in animal trials, but we are now hoping to move on to Phase 1 clinical trials within the next two years.

[1]Sandler, V. M. et al. Reprogramming human endothelial cells to hematopoietic cells requires vascular induction. Nature 511, 312-318, doi:10.1038/nature13547 (2014).Validated in: Lis, R. et.al. Conversion of adult endothelium to immunocompetent hematopoietic stem cells. Nature Published online 17 May 2017, doi:10.1038/nature22326 (2017).

[2]Sandler V.M et al.Reprogramming of Embryonic Human Fibroblasts into Fetal Hematopoietic Progenitors by Fusion with Human Fetal Liver CD34+ Cells. PLoS ONE 6(4) 2011.

[3] Pereira C.F. et al. Induction of a hemogenic program in mouse fibroblasts. Cell Stem Cell. 2013 Aug 1;13(2):205-18.

Vladislav Sandler is the co-founder of HemoGenyx LLC, a US preclinical stage biotechnology company launching innovative new treatments for blood diseases using blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cell transplantation (HSCT) techniques.

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Eliminating the need for bone marrow donors - The Hippocratic Post (blog)

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Eliminating the need for bone marrow donors – The Hippocratic Post (blog) | August 28th, 2017

For anyone diagnosed with cancer, Alzheimers or AIDS, perhaps the best hope for finding cures lies in their own bodies more specifically, in the cells traveling through their blood.

Scientists at major universities and pharmaceutical companies need more of those cells to do their cutting-edge medical research, and Folsoms StemExpress is leading the way nationwide. Company CEO Cate Dyer is trying to get out the word to potential donors that their blood is essential to this work.

StemExpress collects blood, bone marrow, plasma or cord blood at its centers and compensates donors for their time and discomfort. Then it processes their samples into a range of products, including many of the cells on your bodys healing team: white blood cells, stem cells, T cells and others that answer the call when the body confronts a disease or disability.

We really want to get out to people in Sacramento and the region that we need diseased donors at our sites, and thats everyone people who have an early-diagnosed cancer, people in treatment, theyre having radiation post-treatment and remission, from everything like AML, leukemia, lymphoma, all of the major cancer space, said Cate Dyer, the companys founder and CEO. But also, we have AIDS projects going on right now where we need AIDS-positive samples.

Its not just cancer or AIDS, though. Some researchers also use cells from the samples to study chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure or to study illnesses that have no cures such as Alzheimers or Parkinsons.

Researchers can take many paths when studying cells from different people, at different stages of a disease, said Dr. Michael Chez, a pediatric neurologist with Sutter in the Sacramento region. For example, researchers could develop screenings for early detection of a disease or genetic defect, or duplicate defective tissues to see how to repair what went wrong. Their findings might help to develop drugs or chemicals that will help to reverse or change the course of a disease. Already, scientists have begun harvesting stem cells, turning them into specific tissues and using them for replacement or repair.

To help potential donors understand the impact they can have on research, Dyer highlighted the work that StemExpress started doing seven years ago with San Diego-based Sequenom, a life-sciences company that was attempting to develop a less-invasive way to check for genetic defects in fetuses. At the time, doctors were using a needle, pushing through the wall of the abdomen and into the uterus to collect and test elements of the amniotic fluid to assess genetic abnormalities.

It was a procedure that frightened women not only because of concerns about their unborn babies but also because they feared that they might be one of the small percentage of women who suffered a major complication as a result of the amniocentesis.

Sequenom envisioned a test that, by contrast, would simply examine blood drawn from the expectant mother. To develop the test, Sequenoms researchers would have to isolate and study DNA strands for both expectant moms and their fetuses. By studying DNA from thousands of donors, the life sciences company was able to identify DNA mutations, deletions and alterations and develop a way to check for them in the blood rather than in amniotic fluid.

At the time, when I met (Sequenoms senior director of clinical operations) they were sourcing about 25 (blood) samples a week, just to give you a ballpark, Dyer said, and I asked him, Well, how long is it going to take you to meet all the (Food and Drug Administration) requirements needed, sourcing 25 samples a week? And, he was like, Five to six years to get all our projects together.

Dyer made it her priority to significantly speed up that development timeline by delivering 300 samples a week, a feat she said the company accomplished within 90 days. Along the way, Stem Express became the largest global supplier of maternal blood for research purposes.

If it takes six years for them to source all the samples and another year and a half to get that through the FDA, youre looking at an eight-year turnaround just to get that ... to a patient, Dyer said. If we can shorten that, which we did, to almost a year and a half and get that then to the FDA and back out to patients, weve just massively impacted patient health care.

Chez talks regularly with patients or the parents of patients who are impatient for better treatments or cures, he said, but the availability of donor blood, cells and DNA already has sped up the pace of development of new drugs, screenings or treatments, and that pace should continue to improve as the bank of samples grows.

What also excites Chez is that multiple researchers can benefit from the millions of cells extracted from a blood draw from a single patient. Think of what this means, he said, for orphan diseases those conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 U.S. residents, such as Lou Gehrigs, cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy. A physician might run into a patient with one of these conditions once every 10 years, he said, but a few people living with these illnesses now have the power to provide cells to foster research around the world.

Experts then can study how a disease manifests at the cellular level, design methods of treatment and test them on human tissue in the lab, Chez said. There may not be enough patients in any one place to design treatment studies, he said, so human tissues can expand statistical ways to study the safety and efficacy of treatments.

One patient could help a disease study in multiple places versus just being limited to one researcher at one university, Chez said. If you have multiple people doing the work, it just amplifies how quickly things get done and the statistical power of that type of research. This is exponentially changing the algorithm of how research will be done in disease.

Dyer said she is often asked: Could giving blood pose a health risk for people struggling with cancer or other diseases? Her answer: It depends on the patient. StemExpress puts each donor through health assessments to determine how much blood they can give. Some patients may only be able to give one tablespoon; others, as much as six tablespoons.

Patients receive $25-$50 for blood draws, fees that are set by an independent review board. The company has collection centers at 2210 E. Bidwell St. in Folsom, another in Arlington, Mass., and is working to open another center in San Diego.

Researchers are typically specific about the kinds of diseased blood they need and even the stage or progression, Dyer said, so StemExpress is working to expand its donor database to ensure it has a variety of the cells needed.

Want to support biomedical research?

StemExpress is seeking people willing to give blood, white blood cells and bone marrow. The company accepts donations from patients who are healthy or those struggling with chronic or terminal illnesses.

The company compensates donors, based on the time they spend and the invasiveness of the procedure. People who give blood receive $25-50, for instance, while marrow donors receive $250.

A review board, independent of StemExpress, sets the payments. To learn more or to make an appointment, visit http://www.stemexpressdonors.com or call 1-877-900-7836.

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Struggling with a chronic or life-threatening illness? Your blood can help research cures - Sacramento Bee

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Struggling with a chronic or life-threatening illness? Your blood can help research cures – Sacramento Bee | August 28th, 2017

PHOENIX, Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Creative Medical Technology Holdings Inc. (OTCQB ticker symbol CELZ) announced today completion of enrollment in the Company's clinical trial assessing safety and efficacy of its CaverstemTM procedure to treat erectile dysfunction in patients who do not respond to currently available treatments.Approximately 30% of the 30,000,000 patients suffering from erectile dysfunction do not respond to drugs like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, in part due to an underlying degeneration of the biological machinery needed to achieve erections.

"The CaverstemTM procedure, which uses the patient's own bone marrow derived stem cells to induce arterial and venous regeneration, is an outpatient procedure able to be conducted by Urologists in their medical facilities. We are using a patient's own cells and we do not manipulate the stem cells through the use of chemicals, growth factors or expansion and have experienced no procedure-related safety issues," said Dr. Thomas Ichim Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc.

The clinical trial covering patients ages 18 to 80 received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval in December 2016. The trial is sponsored by us based on our patented technology and is conducted by Dr. Jacob Rajfer, Principal Investigator and Los Angeles Biomedical Institute at Harbor UCLA Hospital in Torrance, CA.

"I am pleased with the expedience and efficiency at which enrollment was reached. As someone who regularly sees patients suffering from treatment non-responsive erectile dysfunction, I am excited to see the development of a novel approach to treating this condition using the patient's own natural regenerative processes," said Dr. Alexander Gershman, member of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board and Director of Institute of Advanced Urology at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Tower; Director of Urologic Laparoscopy in the Division of Urology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center."

"We are very fortunate to work with the expert team at Los Angeles Biomedical Institute - UCLA/Harbor Hospital who have done an outstanding job with subject recruitment, screening, treatment and follow-up.We firmly believe that we are on schedule for commercialization of the Caverstem TM procedure through publication and presentation of trial results, marketing, licensing, training and sales in 2018," said Timothy Warbington, President and CEO of Creative Medical Technology Holdings Inc.

About Creative Medical Technology Holdings

Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company currently trading on the OTCQB under the ticker symbol CELZ. For further information about the company go to http://www.creativemedicaltechnology.com. For more information on our CaverstemTM procedure please go to http://www.caverstem.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

OTC Markets has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming clinical trials and laboratory results, marketing efforts, funding, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and, therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. See the periodic and other reports filed by Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov.

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Creative Medical Technology Holdings Achieves 100% Patient Enrollment in CaverstemTM Clinical Trial for Stem Cell ... - Markets Insider

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Creative Medical Technology Holdings Achieves 100% Patient Enrollment in CaverstemTM Clinical Trial for Stem Cell … – Markets Insider | August 28th, 2017

A human stem cell replicating itself.

Hal X. Nguyen and Aileen J. Anderson

But when it comes to spinal cord injuries, the healing process goes awry.

Immune cells rush in and cause a scar that blocks the ability of neurons to regrow and reconnect. However, recent studies have shown that the immune system can also aid regeneration.

The immune system has both positive and a negative impact what it does is really context specific, says Jan Kaslin, who studies neural regeneration in zebrafish at the Australian Regenerative Institute of Medicine in Melbourne, Australia.

Stem cells provide a great hope for damaged spinal cords and brain injury but it has not been clear on how the immune system may affect the regrowth.

Now a new study has taken a look at how stem cells and the immune system interact in the repair of the spinal cord. Led by Aileen Anderson from the University of California, Riverside and published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study suggests that whether or not the immune system hinders or helps transplanted stem cells to regrow lost tissue may be influenced by the presence of certain kinds of immune cells.

The study used stem cells derived from human foetal brain tissue and transplanted them into mice with a wound in their spinal cord. They then blocked the invasion of a specific population of immune cells called neutrophils and observed how well the wound was repaired by transplanted the stem cells.

In contrast to earlier research, Andersons team found with that with neutrophils out of the way the wound healed more easily, requiring few stem cells.

This is the first data to show that the immune environment can be altered to allow stem cell populations to perform better in terms of restoring function, according to Anderson.

Can other immune cells be manipulated to increase the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation in spinal cord regeneration?

These findings are an important of piece of the puzzle, says Kaslin, that may significantly improve future stem cell transplantation approaches.

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Immune cells may prevent stem cell growth in spinal cord repair - Cosmos

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Immune cells may prevent stem cell growth in spinal cord repair – Cosmos | August 28th, 2017

Jerika Bolen, the 14-year-old who made headlines when she decided to stop treatment for Type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy, has died.

Jerika Bolen and her mother, Jen, share a moment on the way to a July 2016 prom in Appleton, Wis. Jerika died in September 2016, after she decided to end treatment for an incurable genetic disease.(Photo: Danny Damiani, The (Appleton, Wis.) Post-Crescent)

APPLETON, Wis. Nearly one year after a Wisconsin teen with an incurable genetic disease announced her intention to go without a life-sustaining ventilator, experts say her case has had surprisingly minimal impact on the right-to-die debate.

"I fully expected it to continue in the dialogue," said Paul J. Ford, director of the NeuroEthics Program at Cleveland Clinic, about Jerika Bolen's story.

Jerika, of Appleton, Wis., died last September after a lifelong battle with spinal muscular atrophy type 2, which destroys nerves cells in the brain stem and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle activity. Her death last year came after a final summer that included a prom in her honor in July.

When I decided, I felt extremely happy and sad at the same time, Jerika told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin in July 2016. There were a lot of tears, but then I realized Im going to be in a better place, and Im not going to be in this terrible pain."

More: Following 'Last Dance' prom, Wisconsin teen Jerika Bolen dies

Jerika's decision drew national attention, including an overwhelming amount of support from well-wishers worldwide. But her story also drew the ire of disability rights groups who attempted to intervene in Jerika's decision to stop treatment.

For Jerika's case, it really pushes the boundaries between the right to refuse treatment and assisted suicide.

"It was an exceedingly complicated case," said Arthur Caplan, head of the division of bioethics at New York Universitys School of Medicine. "(Jerika) was 14, so not quite old enough to be legally able to make her decisions, but old enough that many (medical experts) would say she was old enough to help determine her care."

Jerika was mostly immobile and in chronic pain from spinal muscular atrophy. She ranked her pain as a seven on a scale of one to 10 on her best days.

Medications had damaged her body. She had more than 30 visits to operating rooms. She had her spine fused in 2013 and the heads of her femurs removed in 2015.

The day of Jerika's death, Jen Bolen, who declined to be interviewed for this story, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that "no one in their right mind would let someone suffer like she was.

"Suffering is a pretty strong, compelling reason to back away," Caplan said.

Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group, was one of five disability rights groups that asked authorities to conduct an investigation into Jerika's care.

Diane Coleman, Not Dead Yet's president and CEO, said the groups questioned Jerika's decision to die, as well as the public's response.

More: Wisconsin teen's battle to stop treatment isnt unique

More: Is Wisconsin teen's decision to die a turning point?

"We were trying to be gentle and respectful, but also to say that Jerika had a lot to live for, even if she couldn't yet see that herself," Coleman said.

(Jerika) was 14, so not quite old enough to be legally able to make her decisions, but old enough that many (medical experts) would say she was old enough to help determine her care.

A letter Not Dead Yet and other disability rights groups wrote in early August 2016 raised questions about Jerika's care and said the teenager was "clearly suicidal." Disability Rights Wisconsin also wrote a letter to Outagamie County, Wis., child protection authorities.

"For Jerika's case, it really pushes the boundaries between the right to refuse treatment and assisted suicide," Coleman said. "If she had continued using her (ventilator) ... things would be different, and she didn't get to get there.

"Almost all of the coverage supported her death. That's what's wrong."

Ford said it's difficult from the outside to understand a person's life and level of suffering.

"(Jerika) went through a lot," Caplan said. "She knows more about that than many people weighing in on what should happen."

Caplan said Jerika's story didn't take on the dimension of Terry Schiavo, a Florida woman who remained in a "persistent" vegetative state for 15 years, or Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old with brain cancer who relocated to Oregon so she could legally kill herself with medication.

"(Jerika) was saying, 'I've been through so much. I don't want to do this anymore,' " Caplan said. "Which is an important question, but it isn't quite analogous to what happens either when someone requests help in dying or says, 'I don't want to be maintained because I'm so old and so frail that there's no point.' She was in a different situation."

More: Q&A: What you should know about right to die

More: Child neglect claimed in teen's plan to end her own life

Caplan said Americans are "completely and utterly confused" about right-to-die issues, including how to deal with mental impairment in dying, whether to honor a child's request and even what constitutes death.

"Where views diverge is saying how much suffering is too much to ask someone to bear, and whose responsibility is it to partake in ending a life if it's more suffering than anyone ought to bear," Ford, the Cleveland Clinic ethicist, said.

One of those issues is physician-assisted suicide. Public opinion about the practice remains divided: a 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 47% of Americans approve of laws to allow the practice for the terminally ill, while 49% disapprove.

Five states California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont and Washington and Washington, D.C., have legalized the practice, and Montana recognized it following a state Supreme Court ruling.

Ford said there was "a great energy among states" to continue the legislation for terminally ill adults a year ago.

More: Teen's plan to die has disability groups seeking intervention

More: More than a thousand people turn out for prom of Wisconsin teen choosing to die

"Those have sort of taken a backseat, recently," he said.

Earlier this year, Wisconsin State Rep. Sondy Pope introduced legislation, modeled closely after other physician-assisted suicide laws, that would allow terminally ill Wisconsin adults to receive medication to end their lives.

Pope, who conceded that the legislation has no immediate chance of becoming law, said she would support legislation to allow a minor who isn't terminal to die with "very, very thoughtful safeguards that include input from loved ones."

"That's way down the road in a case-by-case individual basis ... It doesn't seem right, morally, to say, 'I'm sorry. You're not 18. You have to suffer.' "

Follow Ethan Safran on Twitter:@EthanSafran

More: Girl, 14, with incurable disease makes heartbreaking decision to die

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Year after Jerika Bolen's death, debate continues on right-to-die issues - USA TODAY

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Year after Jerika Bolen’s death, debate continues on right-to-die issues – USA TODAY | August 28th, 2017

Social security expenditures keep rising endlessly as the aging of Japans population accelerates with the low birthrate. Yet, little is known about the way huge sums of taxpayer money are being poured into wasteful projects tied to vested interests in the name of saving human lives.

The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe created with much fanfare in 2015 as a counterpart to the U.S. National Institute of Health, has an annual budget in excess of 140 billion. But the National Cancer Center (NCC), which is supposed to be a major recipient of the AMED fund, is in trouble because excessive sums have been spent on construction of buildings and facilities in the name of life science research.

A glance at the NCCs financial statements shows that its retained earnings plummeted from 5.6 billion in fiscal 2010 to 762 million in 2015. The steep fall in the retained earnings is not due to cuts in grants from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, as a high-ranking NCC official claims. The NCC earned 31.4 billion from medical services and 4.3 billion from research projects in fiscal 2010, and these earnings rose by 41 percent to 44.4 billion and 14 percent to 9.2 billion, respectively, unequivocally showing that the rise in earnings far exceeded the cut in government grants.

Then why have its retained earnings fallen so rapidly? The answer is that excessive investments in construction of new facilities have eaten into its funds. For example, it cost 5.4 billion to build a new research center on next-generation surgery and endoscopy, which was completed in May, and another 16.7 billion to build a new research laboratory that began operating in July. The question here is not the sheer sum spent on these projects, but their balance with the institutes earnings. During the 2010-16 period, money spent on such construction projects exceeded the NCCs operating income by 44.3 billion. It seems clear that the NCC is investing beyond its means even as construction costs surge ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Cases of advanced medicine becoming an arena for big spending like public works projects are also found in the field of heavy particle therapy. Japan has five institutions specializing in this field, the pioneer among them being the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba Prefecture. The number in Japan represents nearly half of the 11 such facilities now operating worldwide.

The five heavy particle therapy facilities are located in Chiba, Hyogo, Gunma, Saga and Kanagawa prefectures, with one more being planned in Yamagata. And oddly enough, though, the NCC supposedly the control tower of cancer therapy in Japan has no such institute. That is said to be because those institutes were located in facilities with close links to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry which took the lead in the development of heavy particle therapy instead of the health ministry.

One reason why Gunma University has one of those institutes is not because the university excelled in cancer treatment but, according to a source familiar with the decision, because of the influence of former education minister Hirofumi Nakasone, an Upper House member elected from the Gunma constituency and a powerful member of the Liberal Democratic Partys education lobby. Gunma Prefecture was eager to have the facility established there because that involved heavy initial investments about 7 billion each for the buildings and radiation equipment providing huge economic benefits to local construction and other related industries.

Haphazard ways in which money is being spent on advanced medical research are also found in the projects for biobanks, institutions that collect and preserve biospecimens of people such as blood, urine and DNA samples. Through followup research on the registered people and linking with their clinical information, their activities are expected to contribute to identifying the causes of illnesses and developing new medicines.

Of a number of biobanks set up in Japan, the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization at Tohoku University is by far the largest. It started operating in fiscal 2011 as part of a series of government projects for recontruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that hit the regions Pacific coast. In its initial year of operation, more than 10 billion from the government budget was poured into the Tohoku Medical Megabank. A total of 5.1 billion was spent on the construction and design of a seven-story complex and another 7.5 billion on its facilities and equipment in the years through fiscal 2013. While spending was scaled back in subsequent years, 4.5 billion has been set aside for the project in fiscal 2017 a sum equivalent to the funding allocated to Kyoto University for its research on iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells.

Tohoku Medical Megabank is staffed with 32 professors, 10 associate professors and 25 instructors. However, some of the staff are deemed not necessarily fit for the types of work assigned to the institute, leading some students to comment sarcastically that those who have failed to be promoted to full professorship at Tohoku University have been given new jobs at the biobank. Moreover, the quality of some of the work performed by the institute has been called into question.

The value of biobank is determined by the quality of the data obtained by its research. If the quality is poor, such an institute would not be trusted by researchers in pharmaceutical companies or other institutes. Six years after its creation, Tohoku Medical Megabanks achievement remains poor in terms of significant research that would have lured pharmaceutical firms and others to collaborate with the institute. The head of the biobank is not deterred, however, as he says his institutes research projects take time before tangible results can be produced, and the institute keeps asking for more funding from the AMED.

As funding for Tohoku Medical Megabank gets prioritized, budgetary allocations for the more prestigious BioBank Japan, which has been jointly established by the government-affiliated Riken research institute and the University of Tokyos Institute of Medical Science, has been significantly reduced. The budget cut by AMED is about to deal a fatal blow to the institute that has played a leading role in genome research in Japan.

Given Japans dire fiscal conditions, government funding on scientific research cannot be an exception to budget cuts. Time will come sooner or later for the generous funding for Tohoku Medical Megabank to be curtailed. Today, however, huge sums of taxpayer money are being poured on the institute despite its poor records of significant achievements in the name of the reconstruction of the areas ravaged by the 2011 disasters. Along with the spending of taxpayer money, new positions are being created for post-retirement jobs for government bureaucrats.

The circumstances surrounding those advanced medical research institutes look similar to those involving the governments public works projects: Securing funding from taxpayer money becomes more important than the outcome of projects. Unless the structure is fixed, there will be no hope of medical science becoming a core of the governments growth strategy.

This is an abridged translation of an article from the August issue of Sentaku, a monthly magazine covering political, social and economic scenes. More English articles can be read at http://www.sentaku-en.com

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Wasteful spending on medical public works - The Japan Times

IPS Cell Therapy Comments Off on Wasteful spending on medical public works – The Japan Times | August 28th, 2017

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Global biotherapeutics leader CSL Behring announced today that it has agreed to acquire Calimmune, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy with R&D facilities in Pasadena, California and Sydney, Australia for an upfront payment of $91 million.

The acquisition will provide CSL Behring with Calimmune's pre-clinical asset, CAL-H, an HSC gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease and -thalassemia, which complements CSL Behring's current product portfolio and deep expertise in hematology.

Additionally, CSL Behring will acquire two unique proprietary platform technologies, Select+ and Cytegrity. These technologies are designed to address some of the major challenges currently associated with the commercialization of stem cell therapy, including the ability to manufacture consistent, high-quality products, and to improve engraftment, efficacy and tolerability. Both technologies have broad applications in ex vivo stem cell gene therapy.

"Calimmune shares in our promise and focus to improve the lives of patients with rare and serious medical conditions," said CSL Limited Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Paul Perreault. "The acquisition represents another important step in the execution of our strategy for sustainable growth."

"Calimmune's scientific accomplishments are impressive," Perreault added. "The team has built a robust technology platform, and designed a promising HSC gene therapy candidate - CAL-H, which strongly aligns with our longer-term strategic goals, and complements our core competencies and areas of therapeutic focus. While Calimmune is still in the early stages, we believe that our combined strengths have tremendous potential to change treatment paradigms, and most importantly, significantly improve the lives of our patients."

Calimmune Chief Executive Officer Louis Breton said, "We are excited to become part of CSL Behring. They are an established global industry leader in protein-replacement therapies and have a proven track record of driving innovations through the development pipeline and delivering differentiated products to the global marketplace. Together, we are well positioned to take our achievements to the next level."

CAL-H, Calimmune's HSC gene therapy for sickle cell and -thalassemia, employs both the Select+ system, and the Cytegrity virus production platform. CAL-H has yielded early positive preclinical results and demonstrates the potential to offer a significant advantage to patients suffering from these currently incurable genetic diseases.

Both proprietary technologies have the potential to be used in treatments for a wide range of other rare diseases that would complement CSL Behring's business, including those within the company's current product portfolio.

About Sickle Cell Disease and thalassemiaSickle cell disease and -thalassemia are inherited disorders that affect hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to different parts of the body. They are chronic diseases that dramatically impair the function of many organs and are associated with substantial morbidity, poor quality of life and a shortened life expectancy. The severe forms of both these diseases remain areas of high unmet need with sickle cell disease affecting approximately 150,000 Americans and Europeans and -thalassemia approximately 16,000. Although there are effective treatments available to relieve the symptoms of these diseases, there are no disease modifying treatments and in many cases regular blood transfusions are also required. Bone marrow transplant has been shown to be an effective cure in children, however, is rarely done due to the lack of closely matched donors.

About Select+ Calimmune's Select+TM is a proprietary technology aimed at driving selection of the genetically modified stem cells once they are given back to patients, to decrease toxicity and improve efficacy. One of the historical challenges for gene therapy is achieving a high enough engraftment of stem cells in the bone marrow to reach the relevant therapeutic window. Toxic conditioning regimens used to drive engraftment of gene modified cells can cause a range of adverse events that often require hospitalization and have additional long-term risks.Calimmune has focused on and made significant investments in solving this issue with Select+TM.The combination of Select+TM and lentiviral therapeutic applications aims to reduce the conditioning regimens, increase engraftment and overall efficacy, and improve the patient experience, ultimately making stem cell gene therapy an out-patient modality.

About Cytegrity Calimmune's CytegrityTM is a scalable manufacturing technology for the production of lentiviral vectors, which are used as a delivery mechanism for gene therapy. Lentiviral vectors are traditionally manufactured in small batches through a convoluted process; Cytegrity represents a new system that increases consistency and quality, and significantly lowers costs.

Transaction & Closing CSL Behring will have operational control ofCalimmune following closing of the transaction. In addition to the upfront payment, theagreement between the parties includes the potential for performance based milestone payments of up to $325 million over a period currently anticipated to be around eight years or more following the closing of the transaction.The transaction is expected to close within the next two weeks, subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal advisor to CSL Behring. Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to Calimmune.

About Calimmune Calimmune is a privately owned company committed to accelerating the promise of gene therapy to liberate patients from chronic and currently incurable diseases. To achieve this ambitious goal, Calimmune has built a suite of technologies to advance the delivery, manufacturing, and overall efficiency of these life-changing medicines. Calimmune's lead development programs are novel ex vivo gene therapies for hematologic diseases.

About CSL BehringCSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients' needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.

CSL Behring operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company,CSL Limited(ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs nearly 20,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 60 countries. For more information visitwww.cslbehring.comand follow us on http://www.Twitter.com/CSLBehring.

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SOURCE CSL Behring

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CSL Behring to Acquire Biotech Company Calimmune and its Proprietary Stem Cell Gene Therapy Platform - Markets Insider

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on CSL Behring to Acquire Biotech Company Calimmune and its Proprietary Stem Cell Gene Therapy Platform – Markets Insider | August 28th, 2017

This is not about creating zombies-those so-called living (or walking) dead that are very popular and make a really great theme for TV shows and movies.

Even the Game of Thrones has its version of the living dead with them nasty creatures called White Walkers and Wights.

But then again, thats only science fiction, isnt it? Well, maybe not. In fact, this science-fiction plot could soon play out in real life. Read on.

Researchers from U.S.-based biotech company Bioquark are aimimg to resurrect patients who have been declared brain dead. Yep, you read it right. Resurrect, just like those stories in the Bible. Really bringing back people to life.

It goes without saying that this is really a serious matter. More importantly, Bioquarks small pilot study has been approved and gotten ethical permission by none other than the National Institutes of Health. The study would be an attempt to reawaken the clinically-dead brains of patients who have suffered serious brain injuries.

How will Bioquark do it?

Through stem cell therapy, which has been proven successful already in treating various diseases such as acquired ataxia, Alzheimers disease, Bells Palsy, cerebral atrophy, cirrhosis, optic nerve damage, osteoarthritis, and leukemia.

But, with brain-dead people, its going to be a real challenge since this condition according to medical experts is irreversible.

Brain death is different from a heart thats already stopped beating. A heart can still be revived and sustained by a ventilator or life-support system.

However, in the case of brain death, you cannot revive dead neurons with the help of a life-support machine even though it continues to pump oxygen to the body. The oxygen will get into the other organs like the heart, but it can no longer be utilized by the brain when the neurons are dead.

Neurons are the working units of the brain, specialized cells which are responsible for transmitting information to other nerve cells, gland cells, and muscles.They form networks or connections in the brain which number up to trillions.

A traumatic brain injury, sudden cardiac arrest, or a stroke caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain can cause brain tissues to start dying due to oxygen deprivation.

Oxygen-Deprived Brains Timeline:

However, Bioquark is hopeful that stem cell treatment may spur the growth of new neurons to replace the dead ones and pave the way to revive a clinically dead brain. After all, the brain is a fighter and scientists have found out that our gray matter has a small reservoir of stem cells which can produce new neurons.

Researchers are thinking of the possibility of urging these stem cells to generate new neurons which can remedy injured brain tissues. One other option is to inject neural stem cells into the brain of a person who has just died, and these may generate the necessary new neurons to help revive the brain.

Soon, Bioquark will find out the answer or learn some more information from their pilot study which is the first stage of the companys broaderReanima project. The project is exploring the potential of cutting edge biomedical technology for human neuro-regeneration and neuro-reanimation as a way to hopefully give patients and their loved ones a second chance in life.

Bioquark is set to conduct this very first human trial in partnership with the Indian biotech company Revita Life Sciences which specializes in stem cell treatment.

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Brain Dead Patients Could Be Brought 'Back to Life' in Groundbreaking Stem Cell Therapy - Wall Street Pit

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Brain Dead Patients Could Be Brought ‘Back to Life’ in Groundbreaking Stem Cell Therapy – Wall Street Pit | August 28th, 2017

Northern New Mexico College started its fall semester last Monday by welcoming several new faculty and staff members to the Northern family, in addition to the incoming freshmen students.

Northern believes that its biggest assets are its people, which is why the College invites the campus and wider community to give a very warm welcome to the Colleges new faculty and staff.

Sushmita Nandy, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Sushmita Nandy is a stem cell and cancer biologist by training. She earned her PhD from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She then pursued her post-doctoral research work, first at The Jackson Laboratory, in Bar Harbor, Maine, and later at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, in El Paso, Texas. Her PhD research work involved investigating the regenerative potential of human mesenchymal stem cells and developing approaches to coax them towards cardiac and dopaminergic neuronal lineages.

Rhiannon West, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Rhiannon West received her PhD from the University of New Mexico where she focused on the behavior and ecology of pupfishes. Dr. West then had a post-doctoral position at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska which focused on the behavioral ecology of green swordtails.She studies the behavioral ecology of pupfish (Cyprinodon spp.) where she examines the interaction between behavioral mechanisms, mate choice, morphology, and phenotypic plasticity.

Martina J. Granado, MSN, RN, CNM

Martina joins the associate degree nursing program as an adjunct faculty member. She is a graduate of Northern's associate and baccalaureate degree nursing programs, and recently received her Masters degree in nursing from the University ofNewMexico as a Certified Nurse Midwife. Her area of clinical expertise is maternal/newborn, labor and delivery, and obstetrical care. Martina is employed as a Certified Nurse Midwife at Bridge Care for Women in Los Alamos.

Sarah Graham Edwards, BA, BSN, RN

Sarah joins the associate degree nursing program as an adjunct faculty member. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from State University ofNewYork. Her area of clinical expertise is labor and delivery and she maintains a clinical practice as astaffnurse at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.

Deborah Kitchen, BSN, RN

Debbie brings over 40 years of experience in nursing to her position as an adjunct faculty member. She will be teaching the nurse aide training program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She is an experienced nurse aide instructor and has worked in a variety long-term care facilities and community health settings.

Gabriel Martinez

Gabriel is thenewAssistant Athletic Director/Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach. Gabriel graduated from NNMC with his Bachelor in Business Administration. He also played on the mens basketball team for four years.

Miquella Espinoza

Miquella is the new Transition Specialist for the High School Equivalency Program. She joined the College as a student and is expected to graduate this fall with a BA in Integrative Studies with an emphasis in Psychology. She received an AAS in Human Services in May 2015 from NNMC. Miquella has tutored and coached kindergarten and elementary students for seven years. She is excited for the opportunity to work with students who are in search of bettering their lives and continuing their education.

JoRonda Abeyta

JoRonda recently joined Northern as an academic advisor after graduating from NNMC with herBachelor's degree in Psychology in May of 2017. She is a Licensed Substance Abuse Associate through the State of New Mexico and is working to become a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor. JoRonda also plans to pursue her master's degree in August of 2018.

Patrick K. Bendegue

Patrick is a math instructor for the High School Equivalency Program and the College. Born in Cameroon, Patrick graduated from Covenant Ministries Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Morehouse College for a year under a basketball scholarship while pursuing a degree in computer engineering. He then transferred to Northern as part of the mens basketball team, during which time he received several awards. Patrick graduated with a Bachelor in Engineering Information Technology from Northern.

Joanna Martinez

Joanna is the new Business Office Receptionist. She was previously employed with CNM where she worked as an Assessment Technician for over 2 years. She is married to Gabriel Martinez and has a 9-year-old son, Elijah. Next spring, Joanna will be graduating with her third Associates in Business Administration.

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NNMC Welcomes Fall Semester; New Faculty & Staff - Los Alamos Daily Post

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on NNMC Welcomes Fall Semester; New Faculty & Staff – Los Alamos Daily Post | August 28th, 2017

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is stepping up efforts to better regulate an emerging field of medicine that holds significant promise for curing some of the most troubling diseases by using the body's own cells.

A small number of "unscrupulous actors" have seized on the promise of regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies to mislead patients based on unproven, and in some cases, dangerously dubious products, the FDA said on Monday. (bit.ly/2iB4Xls)

Regenerative medicine makes use of human cells or tissues that are engineered or taken from donors. Health regulators have approved some types of stem cell transplants that mainly use blood and skin stem cells after clinical trials found they could treat certain types of cancer and grow skin grafts for burn victims.

But many potential therapies are still in the earliest stages of development. These therapies are sometimes advertised with the promise of a cure, but they often have scant evidence backing their efficacy or safety.

The FDA said it had taken steps to tackle the problem of some "troubling products" being marketed in Florida and California.

Federal officials on Friday seized from San Diego-based StemImmune Inc vials containing hundreds of doses of a vaccine reserved only for people at high risk for smallpox, the FDA said. (bit.ly/2wC1DMU)

The seizure followed recent FDA inspections that confirmed the vaccine was used to create an unapproved stem cell product, which was then given to cancer patients, the agency added.

The FDA also sent a warning letter to a Sunrise, Florida-based clinic for marketing stem cell products without regulatory approval and for major deviations from current good manufacturing practices. (bit.ly/2giGlx9)

The health regulator will present a new policy framework this fall that will more clearly detail the "rules of the road" for regenerative medicine, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, a cancer survivor, said in a statement.

Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Tamara Mathias; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar

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FDA steps up scrutiny of stem cell therapies - Reuters

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on FDA steps up scrutiny of stem cell therapies – Reuters | August 28th, 2017

It is a question people have been asking forwell-- ages. Is there a way to turn back the aging process in people?

For centuries, people have been looking for a fountain of youth. The idea is that if you find a magical fountain, and drink from its waters, you will not age.

Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Len searched for waters with magical powers in the early 1500s. But what he found instead is the American state of Florida.

Researchers in New York did not find an actual fountain of youth, but they may have found a way to turn back the aging process. It appears the answer may be hidden right between your eyes, in an area called the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus is part of your brain. It controls important activities within the body. They include growth, reproduction and the way we process food.

Researchers at New Yorks Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that hypothalamus neural stem cells also influence how fast aging takes place in the body.

What are stem cells? They are simple cells that can develop into specialized cells, like blood or skin cells. Stem cells can also repair damaged tissues and organs.

Dongsheng Cai is a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was the lead researcher in a study on aging in mice. He and his team reported their findings in the journal Nature.

Cai explains what they found.

"Aging speed is controlled, can be controlled by a particular place in the body, which is the hypothalamus. And it can be controlled by a particular type of cells, which are hypothalamus stem cells. I think these findings are quite interesting, potentially even remarkable."

He adds that when the hypothalamus starts aging, so does the body.

"So when hypothalamus function is in decline, particularly the loss of hypothalamus stem cells, and this protection against the aging development is lost, it eventually leads to aging."

Using this information, the researchers began trying to activate, or energize, the hypothalamus in laboratory mice. They did this by injecting the animals with stem cells.

Later, the researchers examined tissues and tested for changes in behavior. They looked for changes in the strength and coordination of the animals muscles. They also studied the social behavior and cognitive ability of the mice.

The researchers say the results show that the treatment slowed aging in the animals.

Cai says injecting middle-aged mice with stem cells from younger mice helped the older animals live longer.

"When we injected the hypothalamus stem cells, which were derived from young mice, we injected them to the middle-aged mice and that was, in fact, to slow down aging. So the mouse aged slowly and they also have increased their lifespan, which is longevity."

But these results were just from studying mice in a laboratory. If the mice can live longer, does that mean people could have longer lives? The next step is to see if the anti-aging effects also work in human beings.

"If we can translate what we have seen in animals to humans, I think humans, they can function better during later ages, later stage of aging."

Cai and his team say their studies may have other benefits. They say the findings could lead to new ways to help doctors identify and treat any number of age-related health issues.

Im Anne Ball.

Kevin Enochs reported on this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

______________________________________________________________

Now, test your understanding with this short quiz.

______________________________________________________________

fountain n. a device or structure that sends a stream of water into the air in a garden, park, etc

neural adj. of, relating to, or involving a nerve or the nervous system

remarkable adj. unusual or surprising : likely to be noticed

function n. the job or duty of a person

coordination n. the process of organizing people or groups so that they work together properly and well

cognitive adj. of, relating to, or involving conscious mental activities (such as thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering)

benefit n. a good or helpful result or effect

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Researchers Use Brain Cells to Control Aging in Mice - VOA Learning English

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Researchers Use Brain Cells to Control Aging in Mice – VOA Learning English | August 28th, 2017

By: Barbara McClure, RN, BSHA | A Defined Image, Med SpaPublished: 2017-08-26 23:01Date Modified: 2017-08-26 23:01

A Breakthrough approach to skin rejuvenation ProCell Therapies brings together professional Dermabrasion & Microchanneling technology with Stem Cell science and the Procell device for an exciting new approach to skin rejuvenation.

Clinical studies prove that this breakthrough treatment achieves better results with shorter recovery time than far more invasive & expensive procedures such as fractional lasers and deep chemical peels for fine lines, scars, acne, acne scarring, sun damage & laxity.

ProCell Therapies are the perfect complement to facial fillers, neurotoxin injections, and deeper skin tightening procedures, like fractional CO2 resurfacing and RF microneedling.

How does Procell Work?Dermabrasion & Microchanneling with Procell stimulates the basal layer of the epidermis that produces keratinocytes to increase production of new collagen and elastin through the release of growth factors and cytokines. Unlike more aggressive treatments like fractional lasers and chemical peels that injure the skin to cause a healing response, Procell triggers the gene expression of growth factors, peptides and cytokines with minimal to no damage to the dermis. These sophisticated, organic, autologous electro-chemical compounds increase production of collagen and elastin for firmness, elasticity, and texture & tone. Procell works wonderfully in combination with microdermabrasion. Livra Stem Cytokine serums are applied during and after treatment to penetrate the skin and deliver high concentrations of growth factors that enhance production of healthy new skin.

Unlike growth factor serums made from other sources, Procells Livra serums are derived from mesenchymal stem cells that produce the full array of peptides, growth factors and cytokines specifically for regeneration of healthy, new skin!. For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 770-978-0956

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Introducing ProCell Therapies Dermabrasion, Microchanneling, and Stem Cell Therapy - Gwinnett Citizen

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Introducing ProCell Therapies Dermabrasion, Microchanneling, and Stem Cell Therapy – Gwinnett Citizen | August 27th, 2017

Going bald is a worry thatcrosses many people's minds at least once intheir lives.

Unless you are super cool and look like Michael Jordan, Zinedine Zidane or Bruce Willis, losing your hair can be a traumatic experience.

Studies have shown that bald men are more intelligent, but it's still a hard thing to live with if you're attached to your flowing locks.

At least 50 per cent of men will experience some form of baldness in their lifetime.

This can be cause by all sorts of things, ranging from age to genetics, illness and hormones.

For many it will happen before they reach their fifties, but for some it could even start occurring as early as their twenties.

If you feel that you are starting to bald however, new research might have just answered your prayers.

The good folks overat the University of California have been conducting studies on mice and have discovered a new way to make hair grow.

By increasing the production of lactate in hair cells, previously redundant follicles have appeard tostart growing again.

The study has been published by Nature,and showed that hair cells are quitedifferent to the other skin cells in the body.

These cells produce something called pyruvate, which is a glucose that if sent to the 'powerhouse of the cell' (the mitochondria) can actually help hair grow.

Heather Christofk, the co-author of the study is quoted as saying:

Our observations about hair follicle stem cell metabolism prompted us to examine whether genetically diminishing the entry of pyruvate into the mitochondria would force hair follicle stem cells to make more lactate, and if that would activate the cells and grow hair more quickly.

They carried out their theory on two sets of mice, one that had been engineered to not produce lactate and one that had been engineered to produce lactate.

The grop that waslackinglactatestruggled togrow hair, while the group withmore lactate actually saw an increase in hair growth.

William Lowry, another author on the study, adds:

Before this, no one knew that increasing or decreasing the lactate would have an effect on hair follicle stem cells.

Once we saw how altering lactate production in the mice influenced hair growth, it led us to look for potential drugs that could be applied to the skin and have the same effect.

The scientists have now managed to identify two different drugs which could help humans suffering from hair loss.

These are called RCGD423 and UK5099, which both help hair produce lactate - but we should stress that these haven't been tested on humans.

Aimee Flores, a predoctoral trainee who is credited as the first author on the study, says:

The idea of using drugs to stimulate hair growth through hair follicle stem cells is very promising given how many millions of people, both men and women, deal with hair loss.

I think we've only just begun to understand the critical role metabolism plays in hair growth and stem cells in general; I'm looking forward to the potential application of these new findings for hair loss and beyond.

What's even better is that if the research and drugs turn out to be a success, it could be used to help those who suffer fromalopecia, the hair loss condition which effects two in every1,000 people in the UK.

HT Daily Mail Uni Lad NatureNHS

More: No one can believe how much hair this baby has

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Researchers think they've found a simple cure for baldness - The indy100

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Researchers think they’ve found a simple cure for baldness – The indy100 | August 27th, 2017

Jack Massey is ready to go back to school.

Only this time, the University of Florida senior will head back to campus with his mom and a new outlook on life.

Massey suffered a spinal cord injury in a pool accident in March and is paralyzed from the chest down. After months of rehab, he's eager to get back into a familiar routine.

"It's definitely boring," the 21-year-old said at his parents' home in Niceville. "There's not a lot to do. I want to go back to school. I still have my brain. I still have everything I need to be successful."

After the accident March 17, Massey was treated at the University of Florida Shands Hospital and then was transferred to Shepherd Center, a spinal cord and brain injury rehab center in Atlanta. At Shepherd Center he met with a peer mentor, counselors and physical therapists to help him find a new normal.

Jack has remained positive throughout the past six months.

"Jack has been a fighter through all of this," said his mother, Julie. "I think he's done well. I only saw him break down once."

Before the accident, Jack was a well-rounded athlete who playing baseball and basketball and ran. He was a star on the track and field team at Niceville High School, with his 4 X 800 relay winning state his senior year.

He says the biggest challenge now is not being able to do the same things he could before.

"I can't get up and go," he said. "It didn't really start to set in until after I got out of rehab."

Jack has had to find enjoyment in other things, like reading or playing with the dogs. His friends have learned to transfer him from his wheelchair to a car so they can take him to the movies or out to eat. When they recently took a trip to the beach, Julie said five of Jack's friends carried him out to the sand a lesson on how hard it is to navigate the world in a wheelchair.

Jack said he believes technology one day will advance enough that he won't be paralyzed forever. He also volunteered to do stem cell surgery to allow doctors to study the effects of stem cells on his spine for the next 15 years. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he's moving forward. But he'll need help.

"I'm appreciating everything in the now," he said.

Doctors have said Jack has adapted faster than expected, but there are still some everyday essential tasks that are out of his reach. He cannot write or cook. He can shower himself but can't dry himself or transfer himself in and out of his wheelchair. The Massey family hopes to secure a personal care attendant for Jack at school, but until then Julie will be in Gainesville to help him transition. An occupational therapy student from the university will also help Jack on a temporary basis.

Finding proper care for her son has proven to be a learning experience for Julie and her husband, Lance.

"I don't know how people do it," she said. "We have good health care, but then there's hidden costs. There's travel expenses. ... It's kind of humbling. Nobody should have to go to GoFundMe for medical help."

Jack wants to spend his final year as an undergrad as independent as possible. After months of helping him recover, Julie said it will be hard to let her son go. Jack is the oldest of three; his brother Lance is 19 and a student at UF and his sister Alina is 14 and attends Ruckel Middle School.

"It's like letting him go off to kindergarten again," she said.

As for life after college, Jack said he doesn't feel limited in career choices. One of his professors in the geology department encouraged him by saying that there were plenty of opportunities he could pursue in that field. Jack said he may also consider law school. One thing he's learned through this life-altering experience is that there are no limits to what he can achieve.

"I haven't done that much deep thinking. I just go with the flow," he said. "But I learned I have more perseverance. I'm more mentally tough than I thought I was. I'm appreciative for life in general. That's one of the big things."

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Paralyzed after pool accident, student heads back to college | News ... - News & Observer

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Paralyzed after pool accident, student heads back to college | News … – News & Observer | August 27th, 2017

NICEVILLE, Fla. (AP) Jack Massey is ready to go back to school.

Only this time, the University of Florida senior will head back to campus with his mom and a new outlook on life.

Massey suffered a spinal cord injury in a pool accident in March and is paralyzed from the chest down. After months of rehab, he's eager to get back into a familiar routine.

"It's definitely boring," the 21-year-old said at his parents' home in Niceville. "There's not a lot to do. I want to go back to school. I still have my brain. I still have everything I need to be successful."

After the accident March 17, Massey was treated at the University of Florida Shands Hospital and then was transferred to Shepherd Center, a spinal cord and brain injury rehab center in Atlanta. At Shepherd Center he met with a peer mentor, counselors and physical therapists to help him find a new normal.

Jack has remained positive throughout the past six months.

"Jack has been a fighter through all of this," said his mother, Julie. "I think he's done well. I only saw him break down once."

Before the accident, Jack was a well-rounded athlete who playing baseball and basketball and ran. He was a star on the track and field team at Niceville High School, with his 4 X 800 relay winning state his senior year.

He says the biggest challenge now is not being able to do the same things he could before.

"I can't get up and go," he said. "It didn't really start to set in until after I got out of rehab."

Jack has had to find enjoyment in other things, like reading or playing with the dogs. His friends have learned to transfer him from his wheelchair to a car so they can take him to the movies or out to eat. When they recently took a trip to the beach, Julie said five of Jack's friends carried him out to the sand a lesson on how hard it is to navigate the world in a wheelchair.

Jack said he believes technology one day will advance enough that he won't be paralyzed forever. He also volunteered to do stem cell surgery to allow doctors to study the effects of stem cells on his spine for the next 15 years. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he's moving forward. But he'll need help.

"I'm appreciating everything in the now," he said.

Doctors have said Jack has adapted faster than expected, but there are still some everyday essential tasks that are out of his reach. He cannot write or cook. He can shower himself but can't dry himself or transfer himself in and out of his wheelchair. The Massey family hopes to secure a personal care attendant for Jack at school, but until then Julie will be in Gainesville to help him transition. An occupational therapy student from the university will also help Jack on a temporary basis.

Finding proper care for her son has proven to be a learning experience for Julie and her husband, Lance.

"I don't know how people do it," she said. "We have good health care, but then there's hidden costs. There's travel expenses. ... It's kind of humbling. Nobody should have to go to GoFundMe for medical help."

Jack wants to spend his final year as an undergrad as independent as possible. After months of helping him recover, Julie said it will be hard to let her son go. Jack is the oldest of three; his brother Lance is 19 and a student at UF and his sister Alina is 14 and attends Ruckel Middle School.

"It's like letting him go off to kindergarten again," she said.

As for life after college, Jack said he doesn't feel limited in career choices. One of his professors in the geology department encouraged him by saying that there were plenty of opportunities he could pursue in that field. Jack said he may also consider law school. One thing he's learned through this life-altering experience is that there are no limits to what he can achieve.

"I haven't done that much deep thinking. I just go with the flow," he said. "But I learned I have more perseverance. I'm more mentally tough than I thought I was. I'm appreciative for life in general. That's one of the big things."

___

Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com

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Paralyzed after pool accident, student heads back to college - San Francisco Chronicle

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It will take you just a few hours to donate stems cells but it will save someones life as it is usually the last or the only resort for those suffering from blood cancer. Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that can grow into specialized cells. There are two types of stems cells, which are embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are extracted from theblastocyst, which is a structure that contains cell mass that develops into an embryo. Adult stem cells are the undifferentiated cells that replenish the dying cells or repair the damaged cells. These adult stems cells are donated during the stem cell donation. Stems cells are transferred to the patient, where it differentiates into healthy specialized cells. (ALSO READMajor blood types and who can donate blood to whom).

Stem cell donation is voluntarily donating the stem cells produced by your body. It can be donated in two ways. The first method is called Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation while the other method is bone marrow donation. Bone marrow donation requires hospitalization. Bone marrow is collected from your pelvis by doctors under general anesthesia using a syringe. You may experience pain and bruise but you will recover within a week.

Peripheral blood stem cell donation is used by 90 percent of the people to donate stem cells. It is an easy and quick process to collect the blood-forming cells found in the circulating blood. This non-surgical process of collecting the stem cells is called apheresis.

You need to register to donate stem cell. Your cell sample from cheek is analyzed for HLA typing and when there is a requirement for stem cell with your HLA type, you will get a notification. A complete health check-up is carried out to ascertain that you are fit to donate the stems cells. Once the check up is done, you will be given an injection called GCSF (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor)to increase the stem cell present in your blood. This injection will be administered for five days and on the fifth day, the stem cells are collected. A tiny tube will be inserted in your arm and this tube is connected to a machine that will collect the stem cells. Your blood will pass through the machine. This procedure usually takes about five hours. You may experience flu like symptoms after donating the stem cells but it will soon subside.

Your cells will be given to those suffering from blood cancer and it could save the life of that person.

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What is stem cell donation: How does peripheral blood stem cell collection work? - India.com

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on What is stem cell donation: How does peripheral blood stem cell collection work? – India.com | August 27th, 2017

There are many claims that stem cells possess anti-ageing properties and other secrets to youth and regeneration. However, there has not been much scientific proof demonstrating these touted abilities.

Dr Paul Lucas, an assistant professor of orthopaedics and pathology from the New York Medical College in the United States, notes that the words stem cells are thrown around far too casually, and that many people assume that they are a single type of cell.

The definition of stem cell is an operational definition.

That is, it describes what the cell can do, and not any particular protein or other marker it can make, he says.

According to him, a stem cell is a cell that can:

Differentiate into at least one phenotype (cell type), and

Has the ability to divide, with at least one daughter cell remaining a stem cell.

Lots of hype, very little biology. I have written several answers on the website Quora that address this.

Pills and creams are not legit.

The skin has a barrier called the stratum corneum that prevents bacteria from getting inside the body.

The stratum corneum will also block stem cells, which are much, much larger than bacteria, in the form of a cream.

Any stem cell will not survive in a pill with no water. And of course, any cell will not survive the hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

So there is no way stem cells in either a pill or a cream can get inside the body.

Even if a stem cell could get inside the body, there is very little data that any stem cell will be anti-ageing its a way to separate people from their money.

There are several reasons stem cells do not counter ageing.

Stem cells are not magic. They are not magic pixie dust you can sprinkle on everything and make it be perfect.

Ageing has many causes. One of them is DNA and cellular damage.

It is thought that the various adult stem cells are the cells of origin of cancer. The data is very solid for at least hepatomas and leukaemias.

That means that stem cells can suffer mutations that alter cellular function degrading it in some cases, and causing it to go haywire and be cancer in others.

Also, how are stem cells to be injected? Into each tissue? Every muscle, organ, tendon, ligament, etc?

Or are the stem cells to be injected into a vein and travel to all parts of the body?

There are two technical problems with this:

Injecting into a vein means that most of the cells are going to be trapped in the lungs before they go out to the rest of the body, as our veins all lead first to our heart, then our lungs.

Blood vessels are sealed tubes. Think pipes.

Just how are the stem cells supposed to exit the pipes?

This is especially true for reversing ageing in the most important organ the brain.

The neural tissue in the brain is separated from the blood vessels by another layer of tissue called the blood-brain barrier.

Even if stem cells got out of the blood vessels in the brain, they are not going to get to the neural tissue, which is the tissue that needs to rejuvenate.

There is no way any injected stem cells are just going to magically replace all the aged cells in the body.

Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialised cell types. Photo: 123rf.com

Plants are very different from us. No cell from a plant is going to be able to incorporate into our tissues and act like a stem cell.

Many mammalian stem cells particularly mesenchymal stem cells synthesise and secrete several proteins.

Some of these proteins are growth factors in that they cause other cells to divide.

The claim seems to be that plant growth factors will have the same effect on human cells as they do on plant cells.

That is false.

Even some of the skincare people admit this. The following quote is from the website of a US-based skincare company that uses both human and plant stem cells: That said, unlike human stem cells, the growth factors, cytokines and other proteins, which are the products of plant stem cells, do not have the ability to act in the same way in humans, as in plants.

Plant stem cells communicate in a different biochemical language that human cells do not recognise.

First is the source.

ESCs are the inner cell mass of a five to seven-day-old blastocyst, which is formed after the sperm successfully fertilises the egg.

PSCs come either from the tissue of the placenta itself or from the Whartons jelly of the umbilical cord.

Secondly, ESCs are pluripotent, meaning they are able to differentiate into every tissue of the body. They can also form tumours in our body.

PSCs are essentially adult stem cells that have limited proliferation potential, i.e. the cell has a fixed number of times it can divide before it dies. They are multipotent, meaning that they have the ability to form more than one cell type, and do not form tumours.

Probably less costly, but no more effective.

The treatment uses mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

The discoverer of MSCs Prof Dr Arnold Caplan says they should be called mesenchymal secreting cells. Notice that he does not consider them stem cells!

MSCs secrete a large number of cytokines that reduce inflammation. It is inflammation that causes pain.

Aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen also reduce inflammation.

A stem cell injection with MSCs is essentially putting little aspirin factories at the site of injury.

They reduce the pain, but do little or nothing to regenerate the tissue.

For young athletes, reducing inflammation will allow the bodys healing process to work better, and thus, improve outcome.

For older patients? There is less capacity for healing.

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Are stem cells really the fountain of youth? - Star2.com

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Theres a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time, but could Air Supplys long-time success be the result or a chance meeting or was the cosmos working overtime on a little something called destiny? Maybe, but one thing is for surenone of it would have been possible at all without their hard work and tenacity to make it happen.The two Russells, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, happened to be cast in the same Sydney, Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975, and everything changed after that.

Many an audience member has probably asked himself if a fine looking group of ladies about to take the stage could possibly do justice to one of the most popular rock bands in the world. Its a legitimate question considering its not easy music to play, so a person cant help but wonder if the music will be taken as seriously as the people in the audience do. However, once the guitars are plugged in and the girls dig into those first few chords, the obvious answer to that question is, oh, hell, yes.

Many a cook tries their hand at duplicating foods they love in restaurants and specialty shops, telling themselves, it cant be that difficult. Often times, theyre right. It can be doneand its pretty simple. However, sometimes, its not as easy as it looks.Mexican food for example looks easy because ingredients are simple, sauces are often slow-cooked and meat is marinated, making this comfort food one of Americas favorite. Recipes are often handed down and each time theyre prepared, a spice might be tweaked or flavor added, depending on taste and preference.

Its been 40 years since Elvis Presley died (August 16, 1977) and millions of people still have the date circled in red on their calendars. People still remember and they still mourn. Some internet sites have gone to the extent of estimating what he would look like now, if he were still here in the physical.This time of year Memphis fills up with more people than usual as crowds in large numbers make their pilgrimages to Graceland for visits to his home while tribute shows pop up all around the country to remember the huge icon that he was.

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