Optimizing NK-92 Serial Killers: Gamma Irradiation, CD95/FasLigation, And NK Or LAK Attack Limit Cytotoxic Efficacy

Background: The NK cell line NK-92 and its genetically modified variants are receiving attention as immunotherapies to treat a range of malignancies. However, since NK-92 cells are themselves tumors, they require irradiation prior to transfer and are potentially susceptible to attack by patients’ immune systems. Here, we investigated NK-92 cell-mediated serial killing for the effects of gamma-irradiation and ligation of the death receptor Fas (CD95), and NK-92 cell susceptibility to attack by activated primary blood NK cells. Methods: To evaluate serial killing, we used 51 Cr-release assays with low NK-92 effector cell to target Raji, Daudi or K562 tumor cell (E:T) ratios to determine killing frequencies at 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-hours. Results: NK-92 cells were able to kill up to 14 Raji cells per NK-92 cell in eight hours. NK-92 cells retained high cytotoxic activity immediately after irradiation with 10 Gy but the cells surviving irradiation lost >50% activity one day after irradiation. Despite high expression of CD95, NK-92 cells maintained their viability following overnight Fas/CD95-ligation but lost some cytotoxic activity. However, one day after irradiation, NK-92 cells were more susceptible to Fas ligation, resulting in decreased cytotoxic activity of the cells surviving irradiation. Irradiated NK-92 cells were also susceptible to killing by both unstimulated and IL-2 activated primary NK cells (LAK). In contrast, non-irradiated NK-92 cells were more resistant to attack by NK and LAK cells. Conclusions: Irradiation is deleterious to both the survival and cytotoxicity mediated by NK-92 cells and renders the NK-92 cells susceptible to Fas-initiated death and death initiated by primary blood NK cells. Therefore, replacement of irradiation as an antiproliferative pretreatment and genetic deletion of Fas and/or NK activation ligands from adoptively transferred cell lines are indicated as new approaches to increase therapeutic efficacy.

Serial Murders

Introduction: the article is devoted to very dangerous crimes that can be both sexual and non-sexual in nature. It provides key characteristics of serial killers, especially sexual ones, and discloses their criminal behavior. Purpose: uncovering of internal causes of such offenses through criminals’ motivation and external contributing factors. Consideration of motivation is reasonable, as motives contain motivating forces of behavior, its personal meaning, i.e. what these criminal actions are committed for, what is their subjective benefit for the individual. Discussion: rapes and murders committed with extreme cruelty, violence against children and causing them serious injuries, various kinds of sexual perversions have always caused natural disgust, and consequently, unwillingness to engage in direct study of the identity of offenders. The article is based on the study of personality and behavior carried out by the author himself. Results the author identifies main features defining the specifics of serial murders, such as frequency of committing crimes; cliched nature of criminal acts; crime commission in conditions of non-obviousness; manifestation of a special externally unmotivated cruelty. The researcher classifies causes of serial murders, such as need for revenge; a way of self-affirmation; concealing traces of other crimes; purging humanity of immoral personalities, dishonoring the human race; psychological dependence on criminals’ own behavior; connection with some religious cults.

ЛЕКСИЧНИЙ АНАЛІЗ ДИСКУРСУ ПЕРСОНАЖА СЕРІЙНОГО ВБИВЦІ В АМЕРИКАНСЬКІЙ ХУДОЖНІЙ ПРОЗІ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ

Lexical analysis has always been a productive way to study discourse through the semiotic nature of the word and its ability to function as a link between language and reality. The purpose of the article is to explore the lexical level of the discourse of a serial killer character in order to reveal their psychological features and prove their authenticity in comparison with the lexicon research of real serial killers. This study is relevant because the number of thrillers with serial killers in American literature is growing every year, but the discourse of these characters is poorly studied and requires more attention from linguists. The article uses such research methods as the method of lexical and semantic analysis of language units to study the features of language nominations; method of semantic fields, for grouping language units according to their thematic affiliation in microfields; associative method for the distribution of language units to the corresponding microfields; structural method for the separation of units, their classification and interpretation.Results. In the process of lexical analysis of the discourse of the serial killers characters, the words of the characters were divided into three main groups: words denoting mental activity, psychological needs, physiological activity and security. These groups were divided into semantic fields in order to facilitate the process of research. The analysis showed that the largest group of words in most discourses (except for two characters) is a group denoting physiological activity and safety, which corresponds to a study of the lexicon of real serial killers conducted by J. Hancock, which shows that the most important for the life of serial killers is biological component. The lexicon of the two characters (Lecturer and Claiborne), which differ from others by the predominance of words denoting mental activity, can be explained by their high educational and professional level, which shows their high IQ, which is also a feature of real serial killers.Thus, we can conclude that the authors were able to portray the characters plausibly through their lexicon.Key words: discourse, lexicon, semantic field, term, character. Лексичний аналіз завжди був продуктивним способом вивчення дискурсу через семіотичну природу слова та його здатність функціонувати як сполучна ланка між мовою та реальністю. Ця стаття має на меті дослідити лексичний рівень дискурсу персонажа серійного вбивці, щоб розкрити його психологічні особливості та довести достовірність та правдоподібність змалювання його образу в порівнянні з дослідженнями лексикону справжніх серійних убивць. Таке дослідження є актуальним, оскільки в американській літературі з кожним роком зростає кількість трилерів, де ключовими фігурами є серійні вбивці, а от дискурс цих персонажів є маловивченим і вимагає більшої уваги лінгвістів.У статті використані такі методи дослідження, як метод лексико-семантичного аналізу мовних одиниць для вивчення особливостей мовних номінацій; метод семантичних полів, для групування мов-них одиниць за їх тематичною приналежністю в мікрополя; асоціативний метод для розподілу мовних одиниць до відповідних мікрополів; структурний метод для виокремлення одиниць, їх класифікації та інтерпретації.Результати. У процесі лексичного аналізу дискурсу персонажів серійних вбивць слова персонажів було розділено на три основні групи: слова, що позначають розумову діяльність, психологічні потреби, фізіологічну активність та безпеку. Ці групи були поділені на семантичні поля, щоб полегшити процес вивчення. Аналіз показав, що найбільша група слів у більшості дискурсів (крім двох персонажів) – це група, що позначає фізіологічну активність та безпеку, що відповідає дослідженню лексикону справжніх серійних вбивць, проведеному Дж. Хенкоком, яке показує, що найважливішим для життя серійних вбивць є біологічний компонент. Лексикон двох персонажів (Лектор і Клейборн), що відрізняються від інших перевагою слів, які позначають розумову діяльність, можна пояснити їхнім високим освітнім та професійним рівнем. Це засвідчує їхній високий коефіцієнт інтелекту, що також є особливістю справжніх серійних вбивць.Отже, можна зробити висновки, що авторам вдалося зобразити портрети персонажів правдоподібно через їх лексикон, що співвідноситься з дослідженнями лексикону реальних серійних вбивць. Завдяки лексичному аналізу дискурсу вдалося розкрити психологічні особливості характерів персонажів.Ключові слова: дискурс, лексикон, семантичне поле, термін, персонаж.

Sadipaths - A Look at the Public’s Familiarity With Some of the Most Nefarious Serial Killers

Sadipaths are the worst of all offenders. They are callous, vicious, and lacking in remorse. This study investigated the beliefs and familiarity that people have with 10 infamous serial killers. The final sample of 455 participants revealed some notable findings regarding various demographic variables and familiarity with serial killers. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Richard Ramirez were the three most well-known sadipaths. The findings also show that the majority of people do not believe these offenders can be rehabilitated (78.4%) and that most believe they should face the death penalty (65.6%). Most (77%) also believe they have sadistic personalities. The study may be of interest to psychologists, criminologists, lawyers, and social scientists.

A Retrospective Descriptive Study on Death Due to Cyanide Poisoning Over a Period of 20 Years in Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram

BACKGROUND Cyanide is a rapidly acting poison which has been the suicidal agent of choice since time unknown. Its notoriety also extends to homicide, and it has often been used by serial killers. It is found in nature and is used in various industries, but is difficult to obtain nowadays as a result of strict policy implementation. METHODS All cases of cyanide poisoning over a period of 20 years from 2000 to 2019 were studied. Samples were sent for identification and quantification by GC-MS to the chemical examiner’s laboratory. Data was collected in pro forma and entered into Microsoft Excel and analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). RESULTS A total of 84 cases were studied over a period of 20 years. The majority of cases were recorded in the first decade of the study period. Most common age group involved was 31 to 40 years. Males comprised 84.9 % of the total. Majority were suicidal in nature, and 22.6 % were suicide pacts. The reason for committing suicide could not be found in 59.3 %. 67.9 % were found dead or brought dead to the hospital. In 24 % cases, the typical smell of bitter almonds was identified. Police were able to make out the presence of poison in 83.3 % during the preliminary investigation. CONCLUSIONS Males were the commonly affected. Ingestion of poison was the method of administration in all cases. Majority were suicides, and occurred in the residence of the victims. In majority of cases, police could identify the cause of death as poisoning. The characteristic smell could be identified only in a few cases. KEYWORDS Cyanide, Corrosion, Poisoning, Suicide

Proportional Hazard Model: A Discussion with Serial Killer Data

In this paper I use the Weibull Proportional Hazard model to look at risks associated with the serial killer if they are not arrested, when their killing spree ends. I use a unique dataset on Serial Killers for the United States containing information on over 3000 reported serial killers in the history of the United States. I look at different groups of people based on age, sex and race and how the hazard and survival function change based on the specifications.

On serial killers: the collective's search for understanding

I will begin by examining the term serial itself and its importance in the notion of the serial killer. What does the term serial say? It draws on series - a term often used in reference to novels, films and, quite literally, the television series. Series carries notions of multiple segments that are all linked in some way. There is an ongoing nature to the series - when one segment ends, another begins. The series creates anticipation, anxiety of what is to come and a hope for closure. As "serial killer" is a relatively new term it becomes possible to trace its inception and examine what is being revealed in this naming process. I then go to illustrate how this term serial is what sets serial killing apart from other forms of multiple murder (such as mass murder, spree killing, terrorism and assassination). I will explore the features of the serial killer that appear to make it unique to the collective by developing the language of the accounts of understanding the serial killer: the profiling account, the study of numbers, facts and statistics as a way to apprehend and comprehend the serial killer; the logical extension of society account, where the serial killer is a reflection of society from concerns with the individual to celebrity and consumerism; and the serial killer account, where the serial killer explains his own motivations. In looking at these accounts it becomes possible to see the cliches that are used to discuss the serial killer and how these reveal thoughts and fears of the collective, rather than providing the insight on the serial killer that the accounts are seeking.

On serial killers: the collective's search for understanding

I will begin by examining the term serial itself and its importance in the notion of the serial killer. What does the term serial say? It draws on series - a term often used in reference to novels, films and, quite literally, the television series. Series carries notions of multiple segments that are all linked in some way. There is an ongoing nature to the series - when one segment ends, another begins. The series creates anticipation, anxiety of what is to come and a hope for closure. As "serial killer" is a relatively new term it becomes possible to trace its inception and examine what is being revealed in this naming process. I then go to illustrate how this term serial is what sets serial killing apart from other forms of multiple murder (such as mass murder, spree killing, terrorism and assassination). I will explore the features of the serial killer that appear to make it unique to the collective by developing the language of the accounts of understanding the serial killer: the profiling account, the study of numbers, facts and statistics as a way to apprehend and comprehend the serial killer; the logical extension of society account, where the serial killer is a reflection of society from concerns with the individual to celebrity and consumerism; and the serial killer account, where the serial killer explains his own motivations. In looking at these accounts it becomes possible to see the cliches that are used to discuss the serial killer and how these reveal thoughts and fears of the collective, rather than providing the insight on the serial killer that the accounts are seeking.