From eugen at leitl.org  Wed Oct  1 08:29:52 2008
From: eugen at leitl.org (Eugen Leitl)
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 08:29:52 +0200
Subject: [cryo] Alcor News, September 2008
Message-ID: <20081001062952.GO25850@leitl.org>

----- Forwarded message from Alcor News <jennifer at alcor.org> -----

From: Alcor News <jennifer at alcor.org>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:40:57 -0400 (EDT)
To: eugen at leitl.org
Subject: Alcor News, September 2008
Reply-To: jennifer at alcor.org
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   Alcor News
   Your source for insider's info September, #76

   In This issue

   [3]CEO and Transport Coordinator Positions

   [4]ATP and Whole-Body Vitrification System--Alpha Tests

   [5]TECHNICAL UPDATES

   [6]NEW EQUIPMENT

   [7]ADMINISTRATIVE STATISTICS

   [8]Next Board Meeting

   [9]NSU Welcomes Ralph Merkle, Ph.D.

   [10]Media

   [11]Alcor News Blog

   CEO and Transport Coordinator Positions

   A mailing to Alcor members announcing the CEO and Transport
   Coordinator positions was sent on August 1, 2008, and the positions
   were announced in our monthly newsletter, Alcor News, which was
   emailed to both subscribers and members. An announcement will also be
   featured in our next Cryonics magazine due out shortly.

   We are happy to report that several applications and informal
   inquiries for the CEO position were received this month. We are
   continuing to accept applications for both positions. For details on
   how to apply for the CEO and Transport Coordinator positions please
   click on the links below.

   ALCOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: [12]Qualifications, Salary and Benefits

   TRANSPORT COORDINATOR: [13]Job Descriptions and Responsibilities

   Subscribe/unsubscribe information is at the end of this newsletter.
   You may email any questions or comments to alcornews at alcor.org. Please
   do not reply to this message. Contents are copyright 2008 by the Alcor
   Foundation.

     ATP and Whole-Body Vitrification System--Alpha Tests

   We held our alpha test of the new ATP and the whole- body
   vitrification system this month using a swine as test subject.

   Given that this was our first large animal operation in many years, we
   had something of a learning curve with regard to animal handling and
   the specific surgical procedures necessary for performing bypass. We
   chose to cannulate the carotid artery and internal jugular vein for
   the procedure. I performed the cannulation and Regina Pancake
   assisted, and the surgery went quite smoothly. We had the animal on
   bypass in 45 minutes, which our observing veterinarian considered
   quite successful. We began our equipment testing with the new
   transport perfusion system.

   We needed a mere five minutes to prepare and prime the system prior to
   cannulation, but this figure was artificially high because the two
   people preparing the system had to refresh their memories about how to
   hang the perfusate bag. A time of less than two minutes to prepare the
   system is the benchmark for our next test. All of the new elements
   worked well, and we had no problems at all with the new ATP. We did
   not test it fully on a closed circuit, only for open flush of the
   swine, in order to start testing the whole body system.

   Our whole body system consists of two parts that we tested: the
   patient enclosure and the computer- controlled perfusion. The patient
   enclosure involves an operating stage that cools the patient using
   liquid nitrogen injected into a plenum underneath the patient, fans to
   circulate nitrogen around the patient, a transparent - but internally
   lighted - cover for the patient, and enough seals to keep the nitrogen
   - both vapor and liquid - precisely where they should be.

   The cooling stage cooled quite rapidly to the set temperature. We
   added controllers for that only recently, because we were still
   modifying the enclosure based on previous test results. The
   temperature controllers need to be adjusted slightly by modifying how
   the cooling curve is handled, but it took less than ten minutes to
   cool the stage to three degrees C. We were quite pleased with the even
   nature of the temperature, and Randal Fry is to be commended for his
   efforts to adjust the nitrogen spray to accomplish this result. The
   table itself is also at a more comfortable height for performing
   surgeries.

   Continue reading "[14]ATP and Whole-Body Vitrification System -- Alpha
   Tests"

     TECHNICAL UPDATES

   Research and Development
   The development of the whole-body system progresses with some changes
   to the user interface which will make the system easier to use and yet
   also provide more clarity on the data being generated at any given
   moment. We have also expanded significantly the note-taking capability
   of the system. We are at the point of final engineering testing for
   the ramp generation portion of the system and have yet to verify our
   3-point calibration.

     NEW EQUIPMENT

                            Cart Caddy and Dewar

   Cart Caddy
   We have recently purchased a necessary piece of equipment called a
   Cart Caddy for our patient care bay. Whenever there is a need to fill
   new dewar(s) with liquid nitrogen or to transfer patients from a cool
   down unit into a permanent dewar, the dewar must be moved into
   position. This used to take a minimum of four strong people to
   manually push the dewar. With the Cart Caddy, it is now a two-person
   job (one to operate the machine, the other to supervise). It is also a
   much safer and easier approach to the moving a dewar that weighs 5500
   lbs. We have adapted this unit so that the crescent shape hugs the
   dewar firmly and allows us to maneuver it with little effort.

   As our patient population grows, this small piece of equipment will
   become an important asset to our patient care bay.

     ADMINISTRATIVE STATISTICS

   Membership
   On August 31, 2008, Alcor had 857 members on its Emergency
   Responsibility List. Two memberships were approved during this month,
   no memberships were reinstated, eight memberships were cancelled and
   no members were cryopreserved. Overall, there was a net loss of six
   members this month. Seven members were cancelled due to insufficient
   funding and one cancellation was due to member request. This month
   Alcor's membership agreements were revised to change the word
   "suspension" to "cryopreservation", the preferred term for describing
   Alcor's procedure. These documents are available at our website in the
   [15]Alcor Library section.

   Applicants 
   At the end of September Alcor had 62 applicants for membership. Two
   new applicants were added, and two applicants were converted to
   members.

   Information Packets
   130 info packs were requested in September, and eight were handed out
   during facility tours or from special request. The average total of
   202 info packs sent per month in 2008 is compared to 129 in 2007.

     Next Board Meeting

   The next Board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 4, 2008, at
   the Alcor facility (7895 East Acoma Drive in Scottsdale, AZ) at 11:00
   AM (PDT). Members and the public are encouraged to attend.

     NSU Welcomes Ralph Merkle, Ph.D.

   The Division of Math, Science, and Technology in the Farquhar College
   of Arts and Sciences is proud to welcome Ralph Merkle, Ph.D., to Nova
   Southeastern University as part of the college's Distinguished
   Speakers Series. Dr. Merkle will discuss "Life, Death, and Cryonics"
   on Thursday, October 2, 2008, from 7:00-8:30 p.m., in the Miniaci
   Performing Arts Center. Admission is free.

   NOVA Southeastern University (NSU) is located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

   Their web page on the talk is at:
   [16]http://www.undergrad.nova.edu/articles/dss/r alphmerkle/

     Media

   Tanya Jones and a local member were interviewed at Alcor for a
   documentary about ways people are attempting to live longer. It
   includes interviews with Aubrey de Grey and Ray Kurzweil.

     Alcor News Blog

   Don't forget that you don't have to wait for this monthly newsletter
   to learn more about happenings at Alcor. Check the Alcor News Blog
   throughout the month for the most up-to-date information.
   [17]Alcor News Blog
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   :: [18]jennifer at alcor.org
   :: [19]http://www.alcor.org
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   :: 877-462-5267 ext 113
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