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Alcor News Bulletin
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Number 47: January 20, 2006
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Authors This Issue:
Jennifer Chapman [JC], Diane Cremeens [DC], Tanya Jones
[TJ], Sergey Sheleg [SSH], Steve Van Sickle [SVS], Website
Working Group [WWG].
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In this issue:
* $100,000 Matching Grant for Whole Body Vitrification
Research
* Cryopreservation Case
* Research Update
* Construction Progress
* Financial Matters
* Arizona CryoFeast
* Media This Month
* Membership Statistics
* Legislative Update
* Alcor United
* Employment Opportunities
* Next Board Meeting
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$100,000 Matching Grant for
Whole Body Vitrification Research
Your donation today enables more research tomorrow. And the
more research accomplished by Alcor scientist Sergey
Sheleg, MD, PhD, the better our cryopreservation techniques
will be in years to come.
We need your help to reach the next level. In fact, we need
the help of every one of our members to fully pursue whole
body vitrification research.
**Just a $100 contribution from you and each of our members
would enable us to reach our goal.**
Thus far more than 42% of our target has been raised. But
time is running out. This matching grant is set to expire
on January 31, 2006.
Contact Alcor today with your pledge. Every dollar you send
makes a difference. Thank you, everyone, for your
continuing support.
Pledge forms are available at this link:
http://www.alcor.org/Library/pdfs/MatchingGrant.pdf
By Phone: 877-462-5267 ext. 101
By Fax: 480-922-9027
By Mail:
Alcor Foundation
7895 E. Acoma Drive, Suite 110
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Attention: Fundraising Dept.
[JC]
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Cryopreservation Cases
At 08:37 on January 19th, 2006, Alcor member A-1097 (who in
his paperwork requested confidentiality) went into
witnessed cardiac arrest at local hospice, after a six-day
standby.
Cardiopulmonary support (CPS) consisting of manual
compressions with the Ambu Cardiopump started at 08:39, as
well as the administration of the first three medications.
An endotracheal tube was placed at 08:40, along with a
FAST1 sternal intraosseous access port. The ET tube was
attached to a Surevent pressure-controlled ventilator on
100% oxygen, a Res-Q-Pod respiratory impedance device, and
the sensor of a CO2SMO Plus respiratory monitoring device.
Covered with ice and an operating SQUID, the patient was
moved out of the unit, and the LUCAS cardiac compression
device was started while waiting for the elevator at 08:48.
During the approximately 30-minute drive to Alcor, the
remainder of the medications were given (with the exception
of mannitol, which was discovered to have recrystalized the
night before, and the crystals failed to dissolve in time).
Immediately on arrival at Alcor, while the patient was
still in the rescue cart and under uninterrupted thumper
support, surgery was started to access the right carotid
artery. A cannula was placed in the artery to infuse cold
base perfusate, and cardiac compressions were discontinued,
at 10:00 (83 minutes of support) at a measured
nasopharyngeal temperature of 16.5C.
Oxygen blood saturation during the entire CPS time varied
between 60% and 80%, though it appears that CO2
measurements were sporadic, possibly due to fogging of the
sensor. When no advantage to the attempted extra cooling
was noticed in 5 minutes, surgery began to place the
remainder of the lines and carry out cephalic isolation.
The patient (neuro) was placed in the cooling enclosure and
washout was started at 10:36 (36 minutes cold ischemia), 6
liters/minute 02 flowing through the oxygenator.
The cryoprotective ramp started at 10:44, a gradual slope
to 50% target concentration. This was reached at 12:38, and
the ramp accelerated to approximately 105% target
concentration. Oxygenation was continued throughout the
cryoprotective perfusion. After equilibrating for about 1
hour, the perfusion ended at 14:30 slightly above target
concentration. The differences between left jugular, right
jugular, and arterial concentrations were too small to
measure, indicating very effective equilibration and
uniform perfusion. At 14:38, rapid deep cooling of the
patient started, 6 hours and 1 minute after cardiac arrest.
Alcor now has 72 patients cryopreserved.[TJ]
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Research Update
The LESA fiber optic spectrofluorometer was assembled,
software installed, and the whole system tested. It will be
used to monitor cerebral metabolism and perfusion.
Dr. Sheleg has started work on the paper "Post-arrest
autolysis of cortical neurons" based on research data from
the research project "Dynamics of hypoxic brain damage
after normothermic cardiac arrest" and is designing a new
protocol for real-time measurement of tissue viability
using the LESA spectrofluorometer. [SVS, SSH]
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Construction Progress
We have received and installed our new liquid nitrogen bulk
tank. This pressure tank has been tested but is not yet
ready to fully deploy. Hugh Hixon and a service technician
from our current liquid nitrogen supplier evaluated the
unit and have requested a replacement valve, which will be
installed and tested prior to performing a boiloff test of
the tank. [TJ]
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Financial Matters
Major efforts were undertaken in the final months of 2005
to get all of our internal billing completely reconciled
before the end of the year. Through sheer determination we
ended the year on an extremely high note: All lines of
credit are completely paid off, all outstanding bills are
paid in full, and a 2006 budget has been created with
oversight by the Board of Directors. 2006 starts with a
completely clean slate and these professionally recommended
accounting controls in place:
* Our administrative assistant opens all incoming mail
and keeps a log of all incoming funds for review by the
Executive Director and COO.
* All incoming bank and credit card statements are sent
directly to the Executive Director for review before going
to the bookkeeper.
* A third party makes the deposits prepared by the
bookkeeper.
* All outgoing checks and relevant invoices are reviewed
by both the COO and the Executive Director before
signature.
* A third party mails all outgoing checks.
* All blank checks are kept locked in a separate room
from the bookkeeper and are issued only as needed, and all
voided checks are accounted for.
* Spot checks of accounting activities are routinely
conducted by the COO, Treasurer, and Chairman of the Board.
* An employee honesty insurance policy is in place.
* The COO directs the bookkeeper about bill payment
priorities.
We are pleased that Sheila Kimbrell, our part time
bookkeeper, has decided to stay on with the organization,
despite the demand that the tax season will have on her
accounting firm.
In last month's financial report we referred to "case
billing". This is not an external billing. There are no
outstanding receivables for any case, nor have any such
receivables been written off. What we are referring to is
an internal process by which each case is billed to
different internal accounts. This covers consumables,
labor, and usage charges for equipment. By doing this, we
are now able to accurately determine the cost of every
case. Additionally, usage charges will be placed in a
sinking fund that will allow us to repair or replace
equipment as it is damaged, worn out, or becomes obsolete.
[SVS]
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Arizona CryoFeast
Alcor members and anyone interested in learning more about
Alcor and cryonic suspension are invited to attend the
Arizona CryoFeast on Saturday, January 28th in Scottsdale.
Join us for an afternoon buffet at the home of Alcor
members David & Trudy Pizer (3:00-7:00pm). There will be
plenty of good food and conversation. Visit this link to
RSVP: http://www.alcor.org/Contact/index.html [JC]
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Media This Month
An estimated 23,800 distinct computers visited Alcor's
website in October. Media participation this month
includes:
* ZDF, German public TV, was sent B-roll footage for a
program dealing with aspects of how biological tissue
reacts to preservation efforts.
* Inquiries were received from Shanghai Morning Post, a
Swedish filmmaker, and Craftsmen International Design
regarding an exhibition for the National Natural Science
Museum in Taiwan.
* An open letter signed by over 60 scientists and
physicians endorsing the scientific basis of cryonics has
been made public and can be found at:
http://www.cryoletter.org.
* As always, a real-time list of new things on our
website is available at: http://www.alcor.org/whatsnew.html
[JC, WWG].
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Membership Statistics
Approvals: 7
Members: 786
Applicants: 66
On December 31, 2005, Alcor had 786 members on its
Emergency Responsibility List. Seven memberships were
approved during December, no memberships were reinstated,
one membership was cancelled, and no members were
cryopreserved. Overall, there was a net gain of six members
this month.
We had an average net gain of 6.1 members per month in
2005. Overall, Alcor achieved a net gain of 10% for the
year.
Alcor distributed 161 information packs this month. [DC]
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Legislative Update
Alcor's lobbyist Barry Aarons met key members of the
legislature Sen. Carolyn Allen, Sen. Barbara Leff, Rep. Bob
Stump, and Rep. Linda Lopez. Regarding the issue of
regulation, he saw no need for Alcor to pursue additional
regulations. He recommends that we just keep doing what we
are doing. Barry also suggested individual members and
friends of Alcor consider donating to local candidates.
[SVS]
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Alcor United
Alcor members have a new forum where they can meet and chat
with other members. Get to know other cryonics supporters
in your area and around the world by visiting Alcor United:
www.alcorunited.org
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Employment Opportunities
Have you ever thought about joining the Alcor team? We have
immediate needs for licensed Paramedics, Emergency Medical
Technicians, Registered Nurses, Lab Technicians and more to
join our nationwide Transport Team. Participation would be
on a contractual basis.
You'll be given cryonics training that will enable you to
participate in our patient rescue and transport cases.
Licensed professionals do not have to be Alcor members to
work with us. We welcome your expertise and interest. If
you're interested, send your resume to:
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Next Board Meeting
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February
4, 2006, at 11:00 AM (MST).
Board meetings are typically held on the first Saturday of
the month at the Alcor facility (7895 East Acoma Drive in
Scottsdale, AZ). Members and the public are encouraged to
attend.
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End of Alcor News bulletin #47 dated January 20, 2006.
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