Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

About: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a education organization based out in Leuven, Belgium. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 61109 authors who have published 176584 publications receiving 6210872 citations.

Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 2017 Report: GOLD Executive Summary

Abstract: This Executive Summary of the Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of COPD (GOLD) 2017 Report focuses primarily on the revised and novel parts of the document. The most significant changes include: 1) the assessment of COPD has been refined to separate the spirometric assessment from symptom evaluation. ABCD groups are now proposed to be derived exclusively from patient symptoms and their history of exacerbations; 2) for each of the groups A to D, escalation strategies for pharmacological treatments are proposed; 3) the concept of de-escalation of therapy is introduced in the treatment assessment scheme; 4) nonpharmacologic therapies are comprehensively presented and; 5) the importance of comorbid conditions in managing COPD is reviewed.

Non-medical applications of shape memory alloys

Abstract: The diversity of (potential) applications using shape memory alloys (SMA), apart from the medical field, becomes quite large. Classic categories such as free recovery, actuators, constrained recovery, pseudo-elasticity or damping require further specifications. For example, micro-actuators, smart materials or active damping, can be all classified as actuator applications, but each of those items demands specific functional performance, dimensions and processing. Furthermore, success for applications can only be realised in so far those materials offer also a price-competitive advantage relative to other functional materials or mechanical designs. This competition requires perfect control of the material performance. It is known that especially Ni–Ti alloys can be tuned relatively easy to some specific requirements of the envisaged application: hysteresis, transformation temperatures, damping capacity. At the other side little is known on recovery stresses, wear resistance, fracture mechanics, fatigue … In this paper we would like to stress the need for further exploration of the 4P-relation: principles–properties–processing–products as well in companies as in universities or other research laboratories. This will be illustrated by describing some actual applications indicating why they are successful, other applications why they failed and still others that can only be realised if some further, probably possible, material improvement can be realised.

Molecular evolution of a novel hyperactive Sleeping Beauty transposase enables robust stable gene transfer in vertebrates

Abstract: The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon is a promising technology platform for gene transfer in vertebrates; however, its efficiency of gene insertion can be a bottleneck in primary cell types. A large-scale genetic screen in mammalian cells yielded a hyperactive transposase (SB100X) with approximately 100-fold enhancement in efficiency when compared to the first-generation transposase. SB100X supported 35-50% stable gene transfer in human CD34(+) cells enriched in hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells. Transplantation of gene-marked CD34(+) cells in immunodeficient mice resulted in long-term engraftment and hematopoietic reconstitution. In addition, SB100X supported sustained (>1 year) expression of physiological levels of factor IX upon transposition in the mouse liver in vivo. Finally, SB100X reproducibly resulted in 45% stable transgenesis frequencies by pronuclear microinjection into mouse zygotes. The newly developed transposase yields unprecedented stable gene transfer efficiencies following nonviral gene delivery that compare favorably to stable transduction efficiencies with integrating viral vectors and is expected to facilitate widespread applications in functional genomics and gene therapy.