7 research outputs found

    Cytokine and Chemokine Profiles in a Rat Model of Hemorrhagic Shock after Immuno-Modulation by Androstenetriol

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    Further understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in traumatic injury, and how they are modulated during drug interaction, can facilitate novel treatment strategies for future trauma patients. We hypothesize that the pharmacological agent, Androstenetriol (AET), up regulates host immune response by modulating the continued expression of mediators, including cytokines. In a double-blinded experiment, rats were hemorrhaged, driven by volume or pressure conditions, then resuscitated with fluids and packed red blood cells following a subcutaneous injection of either vehicle or drug. Blood was collected at various time points and cytokine levels were determined by analyses with both multiplex and conventional ELISA assays. Both MCP-1 and GRO/KC increase in surviving animals; trauma increases IL-lα levels in rat plasma, whereas hemorrhage decreases IL-lα over time; IL-6 plasma levels measured 6 hours after hemorrhage may correlate with mortality; AET may act by mechanisms to modify specific TH1 cytokines (INF-y) to promote survival

    An Empirical investigation into management and control of software prototyping.

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    In response to the so-called "software crisis', software prototyping has been widely used as a technique in various stage of systems development since the late 70's, and, with the growing sophistication of 4GLs tools and environments, it has becoming a popular alternative to conventional development approaches. A study of the literature revealed that, unlike tools and environments, the management and control of software prototyping practice has been widely reported as being problematic. The study also suggested that there were very few reported studies of prototyping projects in practice. In order to contribute to the understanding of the management and control of prototyping, it was therefore decided to conduct an empirical study. The empirical investigation comprises three interrelated stages: preliminary survey, field modelling and semi structured interviews. The findings of each stage provided inputs and formed a base for the following stage. From the survey to practitioners it became apparent that the concerns of the literature, regarding the management and control of prototyping projects, were justified. The next stage involved a detailed study using process modelling techniques of ten prototyping projects at eight software development organisations. This was then followed up by semi structured interviews of managers and prototypers at five organisations. In addition a number of documents, minutes and standards were also analysed, and personality tests conducted. The main lessons learnt include the 'process diversity', the inadequate methods and standards, and lack of quality control, particularly in regard to future maintainability and extensibility. Recommendations are given for each key management and control area identified, including team selection, initial requirement gathering, prototypes building, change requests and quality controls. Finally the thesis concludes that further work should be extended to areas such as developing 'lean methods' and an easy to use toolset for better management and control of the process

    The deep space network

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    Summaries are given of Deep Space Network progress in flight project support, tracking and data acquisition research and technology, network engineering, hardware and software implementation, and operations

    Development of selective peptide- and protein-based reporters of kinase activity utilizing chelation-enhanced fluorescence

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    Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2009.Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.Catalyzed by kinases, serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation is a vital mechanism of intracellular regulation and is involved in nearly every aspect of normal, as well as aberrant, cell function. With more than 500 protein kinases present in the human genome, the need for probes that can rapidly and selectively report the activity of a single kinase or a discreet subset of related kinases is crucial, particularly as researchers move to increasingly complex, and more relevant, systems to study the effects of dysregulated kinase behavior. We previously developed sulfonamido-oxine (Sox)-based fluorescent peptides following a P-turn focused (BTF) design. Upon phosphorylation of the Sox-containing peptide, the chromophore binds Mg + and undergoes chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF). However, due to the BTF design limitation, only residues C- or N-terminal to the phosphorylated residue were used to specify the target kinase. To address this drawback, the recognition-domain focused (RDF) strategy, which also relies on CHEF, has been developed. In this approach, the Sox sensing moiety is introduced on the cysteine side chain (C-Sox), thereby allowing inclusion of extended kinase binding determinants, which are used to construct chemosensors for multiple Ser/Thr and Tyr kinases with greatly enhanced selectivity. Moreover, a high throughput mass spectrometry-based screening method that builds additional selectivity into RDF Sox-based probes for Ser/Thr kinases was also developed. Using this approach, it should be possible to construct short peptide probes with enhanced catalytic efficiency for virtually any kinase.(cont.) To expand the scope of CHEF-based sensors, beyond kinases that derive specificity from the short consensus sequence, a highly selective ERK sensor was prepared via semisynthesis by combining a recombinant kinase docking domain, PNT, with a synthetic sensing module that included the Sox chromophore. This probe was used to exclusively monitor ERK1/2 activity in unfractionated cell lysates in the absence of off-target kinase inhibitors. Furthermore, to improve the photophysical properties of the probes for cellular studies, we developed several oxine-based CHEF chromophores utilizing numerous approaches including the versatile click chemistry. The most promising derivative, p-bromophenyltriazoyl-oxine (Clk), displays a significant bathochromic shift in the excitation (15 nm) and emission (40 nm) maxima compared to Sox, and efficiently reports kinase activity when incorporated into peptides as a C-Clk residue. Together, the results presented in this thesis indicate the power that the CHEF-based sensors have to selectively, rapidly and with great sensitivity deliver new insight into the role of in vitro and endogenous kinases in various processes and under a variety of circumstances.by Elvedin Luković.Ph.D

    Wellesley College Bulletin [1996-1997]

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    https://repository.wellesley.edu/catalogs/1094/thumbnail.jp

    Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0, Addendum #2

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    This report serves as the second Addendum to NASA-SP-2009-566, "Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0." The data and descriptions contained within this Addendum capture some of the key assessments and studies produced since publication of the original document, predominately covering those conducted from 2009 through 2012. The assessments and studies described herein are for the most part independent stand-alone contributions. Effort has not been made to assimilate the findings to provide an updated integrated strategy. That is a recognized future effort. This report should not be viewed as constituting a formal plan for the human exploration of Mars

    The Music Sound

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    A guide for music: compositions, events, forms, genres, groups, history, industry, instruments, language, live music, musicians, songs, musicology, techniques, terminology , theory, music video. Music is a human activity which involves structured and audible sounds, which is used for artistic or aesthetic, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. The traditional or classical European aspects of music often listed are those elements given primacy in European-influenced classical music: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone color/timbre, and form. A more comprehensive list is given by stating the aspects of sound: pitch, timbre, loudness, and duration. Common terms used to discuss particular pieces include melody, which is a succession of notes heard as some sort of unit; chord, which is a simultaneity of notes heard as some sort of unit; chord progression, which is a succession of chords (simultaneity succession); harmony, which is the relationship between two or more pitches; counterpoint, which is the simultaneity and organization of different melodies; and rhythm, which is the organization of the durational aspects of music
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