Suspended Animation Research Articles

Is pharmacological, H₂S-induced 'suspended animation' feasible in the ICU?

By definition, ‘suspended animation’ is a hypometabolic state characterized by the “the slowing of life processes by external means without termination” [1]. Various mammalian species are capable of nearly completely shutting down their vital functions in order to survive otherwise lethal environmental conditions, such as prolonged impairment of O2 supply and/or extreme temperatures. First described and studied in patients as “hibernation artificielle” induced by the so-called “cocktail lytique” during the Indochina war in the early 1950 s, for obvious reasons the concept of inducing such a hypometabolic condition has attracted special interest in intensive care and emergency medicine. Originally, organ-protection, in particular for the central nervous system (CNS), was demonstrated when suspended animation was induced by rapidly cooling experimental animals to core body temperatures of about 10–15 °C using ice-cold infusions and/or cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Given the potential undesired adverse effects of hypothermia per se, e. g., metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, prolonged inflammation, and impaired host defense, any pharmacological measure allowing for a therapeutic on-demand induction of suspended animation would be of particular interest. Moreover, more recently, it was suggested that the reduced visceral organ function present in critically ill patients and/or after overwhelming hyperinflammation could be referred to as an adaptive mechanism to maintain ATP-homeostasis due to reduced energy expenditure rather than to irreversible organ failure [2]. A landmark paper by Blackstone et al. produced much excitement among researchers in the field of shock and critical illness: These authors demonstrated that mice inhaling hydrogen sulfide (H2S) reversibly decreased their energy expenditure, which was associated with a fall in core temperature [3]. In the meantime, numerous pre-clinical studies have been published on the possible organ-protective effects of H2S, the available data being equivocal depending on the model used and the type of shock investigated. In this context in particular, the impact of H2S effects on energy metabolism remains a matter of debate. Therefore, the present chapter reviews the available data on H2S-induced on-demand hypometabolism, and its relation (directly as well as a possible consecutive drop in body temperature) to organ-protective properties of H2S.

Wake up and smell the solar system

The Rosetta spacecraft has been in suspended animation for three years. Will it wake up on time to make its date with a comet, asks Stuart Clark

Anoxia-Reoxygenation Regulates Mitochondrial Dynamics through the Hypoxia Response Pathway, SKN-1/Nrf, and Stomatin-Like Protein STL-1/SLP-2

Many aerobic organisms encounter oxygen-deprived environments and thus must have adaptive mechanisms to survive such stress. It is important to understand how mitochondria respond to oxygen deprivation given the critical role they play in using oxygen to generate cellular energy. Here we examine mitochondrial stress response in C. elegans, which adapt to extreme oxygen deprivation (anoxia, less than 0.1% oxygen) by entering into a reversible suspended animation state of locomotory arrest. We show that neuronal mitochondria undergo DRP-1-dependent fission in response to anoxia and undergo refusion upon reoxygenation. The hypoxia response pathway, including EGL-9 and HIF-1, is not required for anoxia-induced fission, but does regulate mitochondrial reconstitution during reoxygenation. Mutants for egl-9 exhibit a rapid refusion of mitochondria and a rapid behavioral recovery from suspended animation during reoxygenation; both phenotypes require HIF-1. Mitochondria are significantly larger in egl-9 mutants after reoxygenation, a phenotype similar to stress-induced mitochondria hyperfusion (SIMH). Anoxia results in mitochondrial oxidative stress, and the oxidative response factor SKN-1/Nrf is required for both rapid mitochondrial refusion and rapid behavioral recovery during reoxygenation. In response to anoxia, SKN-1 promotes the expression of the mitochondrial resident protein Stomatin-like 1 (STL-1), which helps facilitate mitochondrial dynamics following anoxia. Our results suggest the existence of a conserved anoxic stress response involving changes in mitochondrial fission and fusion.

139 Low temperature cell pausing: A short-term hypothermic preservation method for cells

Encouraging advancements in stem cell therapies have produced a requirement for an effective short-term cell preservation method, enabling time for quality assurance testing and transport to their clinical destination. Low temperature pausing of cells (>0 °C) effectively bypasses cell damage caused by extreme temperature shifts during cryopreservation and using ambient temperatures in particular, will greatly reduce costs and reliability of specialist machinery. Although initial work is with an osteoblast cell line, this research aims to apply the process to therapeutically relevant cells and optimize methodologies to enhance cell viability and maintain quality post-preservation. Successful pausing of stem cells will increase the possibility of many novel cellular therapies becoming approved marketed products. An adherent osteosarcoma cell line (HOS TE85) was used for initial investigations. Cells were seeded at 2 × 10 5 cells/ml into 6-well plates and incubated for 24 h at 37 °C, 5% CO 2 . Cells were paused at 80% confluence at ambient temperatures (no atmospheric control) for up to 48 h. Cell assessments were performed immediately after cell pausing and following 24 h recovery at 37 °C, 5% CO 2 . The effect of cell pausing was assessed qualitatively using optical light microscopy and quantitatively using a panel of viability assays. Viability was evaluated by membrane integrity (Trypan Blue exclusion) and ATP-dependent metabolic activity (PrestoBlue). Alkaline phosphatase activity was measured as a secondary indicator of osteoblast-like phenotype. Immediately after hypothermic exposure, cells appear smaller and more spherical in shape when compared to the fibroblastic, adherent structure of untreated controls. After the recovery period, morphology returned to normal. The percentage of viable cells (Trypan Blue negative) retrieved immediately after 24 and 48 h of storage at ambient temperature was 81% and 76% ( n = 3), respectively. After a recovery period, viable cell number increased to 170% (24 h hypothermia) and 88% (48 h hypothermia) of that measured prior to cell pausing. PrestoBlue fluorescence intensity decreased following 24 and 48 hours storage at ambient temperatures compared to untreated controls by 53% and 64% ( n = 3), respectively. Following recovery, fluorescence intensity increased to 151% and 144% after 24 and 48 h of low temperature storage compared to values before hypothermic exposure. We show that HOS TE85 cells effectively recover in terms of morphology, membrane integrity and ATP-dependent enzyme activity from up to 48 h of cell pausing. Additionally, recovered cell yield was lower with increased cell pausing time. These promising results mean we can begin to look at cell types relevant to cell therapy such as mesenchymal stromal cells and pausing in suspension. Work so far is ‘proof of concept’ that HOS TE85 cells can be preserved for 48 h in standard media by entering a phase of suspended animation during pausing at ambient temperatures. Whilst low temperature preservation in standard media holds great potential for HOS TE85 cells, more complex stem cells may require specialised media formulations compatible with cell pausing. Successful cell pausing will create a simpler, cost effective short-term preservation method, which once applied to therapeutically relevant cells, will accelerate the progression of cellular therapies from bench to bedside. Source of funding: Loughborough University Graduate School Studentship. Conflict of interest: None declared. n.robinson@lboro.ac.uk

The Fairest in the Land: The Deconstruction of Beauty in Paul McCarthy's WS

THE DUMMY IN THE DELI COUNTER 0ne of the most striking and surprising objects in McCarthy's recent exhibition WS at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City (June 19-August 4,2013) was a white rubber dummy displayed in a deli counter. The outside of the deli counter bore a tag reading ITEM #1003. In the context of the exhibition, it referred to Snow White, who, after taking a bite from the poisoned apple, falls into a state of suspended animation. The dwarves place her in a glass coffin, where she remains until her rescue by the prince. In WS, the dummy resembles a female figure, bright white in color, slim and sleek, without hair or eyes, but with a vagina clearly visible between spread legs. The glass casket allows full view of the puppet and was situated on the right side of the gigantic installation, which was, fittingly, squeezed into the Armory's drill hall. The installation also included an enormous, surrealistically lit plastic forest, elevated on a wooden framework, a chalet in its center; and two separate, fully furnished rooms that served as the main performance site. The installation, which has for now traveled back to McCarthy's studios in Los Angeles, was accompanied by eleven videos that, shown simultaneously on several screens and monitors, documented the sort of noisy orgies that McCarthy is known for. These performances were staged and filmed over a period of more than thirty days in and around the installation while it was still set up in McCarthy's studios prior to the exhibition. The seven-hour The Feature, the main performance that was projected on large screens around the Armory's drill hall, is based on the Snow narrative, whereas the other video performances, shown in smaller rooms located around the main hall, trace some of the characters of The Feature--White the dwarves, the prince, in shorter sequences largely unrelated to the fairytale. The dummy in the counter could not compete with these eye- and ear-catching components of McCarthy's work--quiet, clean, and sterile, it initially seemed out of place in the overall chaotic tawdriness. The piece, however, has a lot to say. It affords an opportunity to take a closer look at McCarthy's use of the human body (particularly the female one) and, from there, consider its value, Function, and meaning today. It provokes us to think about beauty, about bodily ideals, and about the significance of those attributes that have risen to highest priority in contemporary Western society. WS McCarthy's most recent endeavor in the performative installation branch of his multimedia oeuvre, a branch he has developed and explored since Bossy Burger (1991). Over the years, the performances and installations have become increasingly elaborate, with WS being by far his most refilled and perfected project, At the same time, WS is also McCarthy's most self-involved work. The piece appears to be considerably influenced by artist- and studio-based developments and enthusiasm for technologies, which somewhat obscure the artist's critical and often angry dialogue with consumer society. This is perhaps not surprising, as the undertaking of performative installations like WS, Pirate Project (2005) or Western Project (2005) involve dozens of people, years-long preparation, and multiple specializations (from drawing, sculpture, and special effects to scriptwriting, construction, and filmmaking). Indeed, with WS, McCarthy has attained new levels of craftsmanship, which in turn affect the work's performative aspect. (1) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WS is the first of McCarthy's performative installations in which two automatons--lifelike robots that roll their eyes and move their mouths--join in the performative activities alongside human actors. One resembles the actress playing Snow (or White Snow, as she is called by McCarthy), and the other, Walt Paul (McCarthy himself, made up as Disney). …

Winter Hibernation and UCHL1-p34cdc2 Association in Toad Oocyte Maturation Competence

Currently, it is believed that toad oocyte maturation is dependent on the physiological conditions of winter hibernation. Previous antibody-blocking experiments have demonstrated that toad ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (tUCHL1) is necessary for germinal vesicle breakdown during toad oocyte maturation. In this paper, we first supply evidence that tUCHL1 is highly evolutionarily conserved. Then, we exclude protein availability and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase enzyme activity as factors in the response of oocytes to winter hibernation. In the context of MPF (maturation promoting factor) controlling oocyte maturation and to further understand the role of UCHL1 in oocyte maturation, we performed adsorption and co-immunoprecipitation experiments using toad oocyte protein extracts and determined that tUCHL1 is associated with MPF in toad oocytes. Recombinant tUCHL1 absorbed p34cdc2, a component of MPF, in obviously larger quantities from mature oocytes than from immature oocytes, and p13suc1 was isolated from tUCHL1 with a dependence on the ATP regeneration system, suggesting that still other functions may be involved in their association that require phosphorylation. In oocytes from hibernation-interrupted toads, the p34cdc2 protein level was significantly lower than in oocytes from toads in artificial hibernation, providing an explanation for the different quantities isolated by recombinant tUCHL1 pull-down and, more importantly, identifying a mechanism involved in the toad oocyte’s dependence on a low environmental temperature during winter hibernation. Therefore, in toads, tUCHL1 binds p34cdc2 and plays a role in oocyte maturation. However, neither tUCHL1 nor cyclin B1 respond to low temperatures to facilitate oocyte maturation competence during winter hibernation.

Dreams Are Not Made of Concrete

Dreams Are Not Made of Concrete Joshua Craze (bio) 1. The sun is slowly coming up on one of the main thoroughfares in Juba. Most of the streets do not yet have names; the city is too young, and we navigate using landmarks. At night, I am lost in the endlessness of the dusty tracks, the absence of electric lighting, the silence of the stars, and the uncertain edges of urban settlements. The night is receding, and the sun is throwing the market stalls of Konyo-Konyo into flat relief. It is an auburn light, still so faint that it seems as if objects (a corrugated iron roof, a blue UNHCR tarpaulin, dried fish) are clinging to it, holding its chaste offerings to themselves like gifts of flowers. There are only a few cars on the street, and the dirt has not yet absorbed the sky in its swirling dominion. I sit next to a roadside stall (a cardboard box with a cloth on top, charcoal in a brazier, a heavy pot on the fire) drinking the burning-hot sugar syrup that passes for tea here. The road lies ahead of me, unmoving. Soon, cars will be careening over potholes, cutting cartographies through the dusty furrows of the road as they make their way into town. In 2005, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed a peace treaty with the northern government, ending 22 years of civil war. In 2011, just two months before I wrote these words, Southern Sudan voted to decide on whether it wants to secede from the North. Juba is soon to become Africa’s newest capital. Throughout the conflict, the city was in a state of suspended animation: the government controlled the urban center, but the SPLM, seasoned guerrillas, had encircled it. Supplies came at a premium. [End Page 35] Residents who remember that time speak darkly of searching for food in the rubbish. The core of the city dates from this period: a series of stone houses, owned by northern merchants fearing for their future, that today form an embattled stockade in the midst of a rapidly growing urban sprawl. Since 2005, a new type of urbanism has sprung up. Tent cities shelter along the banks of the Nile. Then there are the concrete bungalows built by soldiers and politicians, and the endless squatter camps that are going up overnight, as thousands of internally displaced people return south after years of exile. It is not just those displaced by war that have flooded into Juba. There are East Africans looking for work, journalists looking for fame, and endless aid workers, whose extravagant salaries have turned Juba into an unlikely boomtown. Their uncertain coexistence makes for an uneasy peace. We all live next to each other, in this city that is not quite urban, not quite a city, and not yet a capital. We wait for the results of the referendum. 2. In Sans Soleil, Chris Marker’s elegiac investigation into the nature of memory, the narrator tells us that she received a letter from Krasner: He told me that in the 19th century, mankind had come to terms with space, and that the great question of the 20th was the coexistence of different concepts of time. There is some truth to this, I think, drinking my third tea of the day as the sun climbs higher in the sky, and the market stalls, ad hoc constructions of tarpaulin and corrugated iron, start to shine. I wave at a lumbering UN Land Cruiser careening over reluctant potholes. The driver, Haider, is a Pakistani soldier spending a year with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). I met him a few nights ago, at the sprawling UN compound next to the airport, and we bonded by dreaming of Sajji, that wonderful dish of roast lamb stuffed with rice, beloved in Balochistan. Lamb of any kind felt very far away that night, surrounded by UN pizza joints, and something like a shared bodily memory (grease, rare meat that gives easily in the mouth, the smell of charcoal) brought us together. [End Page 36] The UN compound is a world of its own, replete with...

PP282—The role of cbs and H2S in the induction of torpor and organ preservation during hibernation

Mammalian hibernation is characterized by profound reductions in metabolism and body temperature. As a result, hibernating animals enter a state of suspended animation called “torpor,” where core body temperatures can drop to as low as approximately –3°C. This is followed by a state with full restoration of metabolism and body temperature called “arousal” without reperfusion injury or other ill effects. It has been recently reported that cooling of hamster cells increases endogenous production of H2S through cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) enzyme, which prevents apoptotic cell death.

Optimal Cold Temperature for the Artificial Hibernation of Bombus ignitus Queen Bumblebees

Bumblebees are widely used to pollinate various greenhouse crops. Among the different bumblebee species, Bombus ignitus is indigenous to Korea, China, Japan and Russia. B. ignitus undergoes one generation per year, and artificial hibernation is essential for year-round rearing of the bumblebee. Keeping the queens under low-temperature conditions for several months is an effective method for terminating their diapause and promoting colony development. In the present study, we investigated how cold temperature affects the artificial hibernation of B. ignitus queens. Under chilling temperatures of <TEX>$-2.5^{\circ}C$</TEX>, <TEX>$0^{\circ}C$</TEX>, <TEX>$2.5^{\circ}C$</TEX> and <TEX>$5^{\circ}C$</TEX> with constant humidity >80%, the queens stored at <TEX>$2.5^{\circ}C$</TEX> exhibited the highest survival rates, which were 74.0% at one month, 67.0% at two months, 60.0% at three months, 46.0% at 4 months, 33.0% at 5 months and 24.0% at 6 months. Lower survival rates were observed at <TEX>$0^{\circ}C$</TEX>, <TEX>$5^{\circ}C$</TEX>, <TEX>$7.5^{\circ}C$</TEX> and <TEX>$12.5^{\circ}C$</TEX>. At <TEX>$2.5^{\circ}C$</TEX> the colony developmental characteristics after diapause were 1.2- to 1.5-fold greater than those when queens were stored at <TEX>$5^{\circ}C$</TEX>. Thus, <TEX>$2.5^{\circ}C$</TEX> and 70% R.H. were the most favorable chilling temperature and humidity conditions for terminating the diapause of B. ignitus queens.

Interplay between insulin signaling, juvenile hormone, and vitellogenin regulates maternal effects on polyphenism in ants

Polyphenism is the phenomenon in which alternative phenotypes are produced by a single genotype in response to environmental cues. An extreme case is found in social insects, in which reproductive queens and sterile workers that greatly differ in morphology and behavior can arise from a single genotype. Experimental evidence for maternal effects on caste determination, the differential larval development toward the queen or worker caste, was recently documented in Pogonomyrmex seed harvester ants, in which only colonies with a hibernated queen produce new queens. However, the proximate mechanisms behind these intergenerational effects have remained elusive. We used a combination of artificial hibernation, hormonal treatments, gene expression analyses, hormone measurements, and vitellogenin quantification to investigate how the combined effect of environmental cues and hormonal signaling affects the process of caste determination in Pogonomyrmex rugosus. The results show that the interplay between insulin signaling, juvenile hormone, and vitellogenin regulates maternal effects on the production of alternative phenotypes and set vitellogenin as a likely key player in the intergenerational transmission of information. This study reveals how hibernation triggers the production of new queens in Pogonomyrmex ant colonies. More generally, it provides important information on maternal effects by showing how environmental cues experienced by one generation can translate into phenotypic variation in the next generation.

Discerning Characters: The Culture of Appearance in Early America Reading the “Century Illustrated” Monthly Magazine: American Literature and Culture, 1870–1893 Suspended Animation: Children’s Picture Books and the Fairy Tale of Modernity

Discerning Characters: The Culture of Appearance in Early America Reading the “Century Illustrated” Monthly Magazine: American Literature and Culture, 1870–1893 Suspended Animation: Children’s Picture Books and the Fairy Tale of Modernity

A curious case of herbivory in the common toad Rhinella arenarum arenarum during hibernation in captivity conditions

The common toad Rhinella arenarum arenarum is used in our laboratory for teaching and research, studying different aspects of the anuran development. Hormonally induced adults allow us to obtain embryos by in vitro fertilization throughout the year. However, adult toads hibernate during nonbreeding season (March-August) making it very hard to find them in nature (Gallardo, 1958). Consequently, we usually maintain captive breeding pairs after breeding season, inducing an “artificial winter” in the laboratory. The finding described in this note was observed on August 2012 in a group of animals that came out of their artificial hibernation.

Latent life: Concepts and practices of human tissue preservation in the International Biological Program

Before the rise of DNA sequence analysis or the controversies over the Human Genome Diversity Project, there was the International Biological Program, which ran from 1964 to 1974. The Human Adaptability arm of the International Biological Program featured a complex encounter between human geneticists and biological anthropologists. These scientists were especially interested in what could be learned from the bodies of people they referred to as both primitive and in danger of going extinct. In this article, I address how new access to technologies of cold storage, which would allow blood to be transported from the field to the lab and be stored for subsequent reanalysis, gave shape to this episode in Cold War human biology and has ramified into our genomic age. This case study highlights the importance of cryopreservation to projects of genetic salvage as well as to the life sciences, more generally. I argue that ‘latency’, a technical term initially used by cryobiologists to describe life in a state of suspended animation, can be extended as a concept for science studies scholars interested in technoscientific efforts to manage the future.

Keynote Speaker: Virtual Reality: Current Uses in Medical Simulation and Future

Virtual reality has gone from research to educational tool to indispensible clinical application in patient care. A brief review of the current status of the use of VR in medicine will provide the springboard for the current gaps that provide future opportunities in simulation as well as an introduction to new advanced technologies that are revolutionizing medicine and which will require VR for educational and training support and clinical applications. Some topics for discussion are virtual patients, cadavers and autopsies, surgical rehearsal, robotic surgery, suspended animation, regeneration and tissue engineering. The challenge: how creatively can VR support these incredible new technologies? The grand challenge n how will 3-D stereolithography revolutionize the practice of medicine? Have you bought your Makerbot yet?

The inhibition of neurons in the central nervous pathways for thermoregulatory cold defense induces a suspended animation state in the rat.

The possibility of inducing a suspended animation state similar to natural torpor would be greatly beneficial in medical science, since it would avoid the adverse consequence of the powerful autonomic activation evoked by external cooling. Previous attempts to systemically inhibit metabolism were successful in mice, but practically ineffective in nonhibernators. Here we show that the selective pharmacological inhibition of key neurons in the central pathways for thermoregulatory cold defense is sufficient to induce a suspended animation state, resembling natural torpor, in a nonhibernator. In rats kept at an ambient temperature of 15°C and under continuous darkness, the prolonged inhibition (6 h) of the rostral ventromedial medulla, a key area of the central nervous pathways for thermoregulatory cold defense, by means of repeated microinjections (100 nl) of the GABA(A) agonist muscimol (1 mm), induced the following: (1) a massive cutaneous vasodilation; (2) drastic drops in deep brain temperature (reaching a nadir of 22.44 ± 0.74°C), heart rate (from 440 ± 13 to 207 ± 12 bpm), and electroencephalography (EEG) power; (3) a modest decrease in mean arterial pressure; and (4) a progressive shift of the EEG power spectrum toward slow frequencies. After the hypothermic bout, all animals showed a massive increase in NREM sleep Delta power, similarly to that occurring in natural torpor. No behavioral abnormalities were observed in the days following the treatment. Our results strengthen the potential role of the CNS in the induction of hibernation/torpor, since CNS-driven changes in organ physiology have been shown to be sufficient to induce and maintain a suspended animation state.

Parasitic infections in mixed system-based heliciculture farms: dynamics and key epidemiological factors

Heliciculture is an excellent alternative to obtain edible snails but its viability is seriously threatened by pathogens. A parasitological survey was conducted in 3 mixed system-based heliciculture farms in Galicia (NW Spain), with the species Tetrahymena rostrata, Tetrahymena limacis, Tetratrichomonas limacis, Cryptobia helicogenae, Brachylaima aspersae (metacercariae and sporocysts), Alloionema appendiculatum, Nemhelix bakeri, and Riccardoella limacum being commonly found infecting Helix aspersa aspersa (petit-gris) snails. With the exception of C. helicogenae, N. bakeri, and B. aspersae sporocysts, all species were also detected in Helix aspersa maxima (gros-gris) snails, although generally with lower parameters. Most monoxenous infections, and consequently multiple parasitism, exhibited a rising trend during the first 2 months of intensive mating, with tendencies being slowed down or even reversed during the third month as a result of accumulated mortality and a sampling-derived reduction in host density. No parasites were vertically transmitted and infections were initially acquired from invading gastropod and micromammal reservoirs during fattening. Finally, artificial hibernation reduced significantly the prevalence of most species. These results confirm the importance of parasites in heliciculture and emphasize the need to prevent the entry of wild reservoirs into the farms and to rapidly remove the carcasses of dead snails from the reproduction units and fattening pens.

Out But In: Between Discourse and Practice in a London Jazz Quartet

I think the key is that we really try to think about what we're doing. I think a lot of bands don't. We put so much thought into what we're playing--and really deliberately in terms of concept or what we're trying to express. tune has an identity. It's all very considered. It's not chance, so much. Chance comes on the bandstand. Tom Farmer (Empirical 2010) At the start of Bowden Out, the concluding track on their 2009 album 'n' In, London jazz quartet Empirical generates a sound world that is both new and familiar. Acoustic bass, alto saxophone, and bass clarinet weave an accompanimental fabric of open, strummed chords and gentle breathy dyads. Over this consistently undulating foundation, a vibraphone skips a weightless melody. Drums enter, adding the wash and rumble of mallets on cymbals and tom-toms. Together, the ensemble floats in suspended animation. The recording offers admirable space and clarity, allowing the listener to focus on the quiet click of woodwind keys, the fleshy attack of bass strings, the slow rotation of vibraphone motors. This moment of quiet reflection comes at the end of an album dedicated to a modern reimagining of the music of reedist and composer Eric Dolphy. Bowden Out presents a reflective abstraction of his ensemble's music, revealing the extent to which Empirical has assimilated and personalized the compositional and interactive processes at the heart of Dolphy's recording, To Lunch. Empirical's process--careful study of a series of recordings as the foundation of the quartet's collective work as improvisers--is certainly nothing new. This imitative approach has been broadly distributed across the jazz landscape for the last century as countless young musicians have used old recordings as the foundation of new work. Empirical's particular result, however, is unique to them, and it is uniquely informed by their relationship to the jazz tradition--both as the tradition's story has been told and as the tradition has been lived by musicians. Through their collective imagination of the processes undertaken by the Dolphy quintet in Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, recording studio in February 1964, the members of Empirical have pieced together their own understanding of the practices and relationships animating the American post-bop community of the mid-1960s. Their internalization of the dominant jazz discourse has led the members of Empirical to paint themselves--a racially diverse ensemble of young British improvisers--as outsiders, separated both in time and in locality from the most privileged sites at which the jazz tradition has coalesced. Their sincere, focused engagement with their recorded mentors, however, has enabled the group to overcome the limitations that they have associated with the distance they perceive between themselves and the tradition's discursive core. On 'n' In, Empirical explores Dolphy's music quite directly, focusing on To Lunch in particular. While 'n' In includes two Dolphy compositions (Hat and Beard and Gazzelloni), the majority of the album is dedicated to an abstracting and reimagining of Dolphy's processes and materials. As bassist Tom Farmer describes Empirical's approach, Each [track] deals with at least one specific idea from Dolphy and Dolphy's associates (Empirical 2010). Rather than writing new compositions based loosely on Dolphy's musical style yet utilizing traditional bebop forms, Empirical constructs spaces that fuse definite material and performative process within a single set of instructions. The pieces included on 'n' In are not only melodies and harmonic progressions composed by one of the group members; the works themselves also encompass collectively negotiated guidelines for each performance's interaction and expressive shape. These shared understandings are broad and negotiable, but they form an important foundation for the quarter's engagement with each composition. …

Quality and biochemical properties of artificially hibernated crucian carp for waterless preservation

The aim of this study was to explore the artificial hibernation of crucian carp for waterless preservation and to characterize the quality and biochemical properties during and after the hibernation. Anesthetized crucian carp using eugenol were stored at 8 °C with 90 % oxygen and 95-100 % relative humidity for 38 h and then transferred to fresh water to recover. Liquid loss and cooking loss had no significant changes (p > 0.05). The total volatile basic nitrogen content and 2-thiobarbituric acid value in hibernated fish were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than fresh and recovered groups. Serum cortisol, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and acid phosphatase (ACP) activities significantly increased (p < 0.05) during hibernation, while glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) had no significant change (p > 0.05). Both ACP and AKP activities decreased upon the fish recovered, but only the ACP activity returned to normal. However, there were increased serum glucose concentration, GOT and GPT activities in recovered fish. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that the artificially hibernated life of crucian carp was 38 h by the combination of anaesthetizing and low temperature. The muscle quality would not be influenced, and most of the stress responses would disappear after hibernated fish recovered.

The development of chemical narcotic and related anesthetic techniques in modern times

Before the 19(th) century, ether and nitrous oxide were synthesized. However, they were just used as a kind of enjoyable things at night gatherings for their hypnotic and analgesic effect. In the 19(th) century, ether and nitrous oxide came into use in clinical anesthesia. Thereafter, more and more chemical narcotics were synthesized and applied to clinical anesthesia. In 1872, chloroform was injected into man's vein for anesthesia. In the 20(th) century, along with many kinds of barbiturates being synthesized, intravenous anesthesia got much development and application. At the same time, related techniques of anesthesia also improved. In the early 19(th) century, open inhalation anesthesia was often used. In 1900, there came a new anesthesia method by blowing into the windpipe through the cut of throat. Later on, the technique of endotracheal anesthesia and artificial respiration anesthesia (1908), the anesthetic instrument of endotracheal intubation and laryngeal mask and laryngoscope were invented. In the mid 19(th) century, the appearance of injection syringe and cocaine made local anesthesia possible. In 1880, local anesthesia also became successful. Thereafter, a variety of local anesthetic drugs were synthesized and applied, companying with various techniques of local anesthesia such as subarachnoid anesthesia (1900), sacral anesthesia (1901), epidural block (1903), plexus block (1902) and so on. In order to control the depth of anesthesia and respiration effectively, people attempted a lot so that anesthesia machine (1910), improved endotracheal anesthesia (1921), cryogenic technique (1902), controlled hypotension (1940s) and artificial hibernation (1950) came into being.

Metaphysical and Moral Status of Cryopreserved Embryos.

Those who oppose human embryonic stem cell research argue for a clear position on the metaphysical and moral status of human embryos. This position does not differ whether the embryo is present inside its mother's reproductive tract or in a cryopreservation tank. It is worth examining, however, whether an embryo in "suspended animation" has the same status as one actively developing in utero. I will explore this question from the perspective of Thomas Aquinas's metaphysical account of human nature. I conclude that a cryopreserved human embryo counts, both metaphysically and morally, as a person; and thus the utilization of such embryos for inherently destructive research purposes is impermissible.