Liver function as an engineering system

Process Systems Engineering has tackled a wide range of problems including manufacturing, the environment, and advanced materials design. Here we discuss how tools can be deployed to tackle medical problems which involve complex chemical transformations and spatial phenomena looking in particular at the liver system, the body's chemical factory. We show how an existing model has been developed to model distributed behavior necessary to predict the behavior of drugs for treating liver disease. The model has been used to predict the effects of suppression of de novo lipogenesis, stimulation of β-oxidation and a combination of the two. A reduced model has also been used to explore the prediction of behavior of hormones in the blood stream controlling glucose levels to ensure that levels are kept within safe bounds using interval methods. The predictions are made resulting from uncertainty in two key parameters with oscillating input resulting from regular feeding

Crown Radius and Diameter at Breast Height Relationships for Six Bottomland Hardwood Species

The relationship between a tree\u27s crown radius and diameter at breast height (DBH) has a variety of uses including forest competition studies, tree crown densities, spacing and stocking relationships, wildlife habitat suitability models, and tree volume estimations. Estimating DBH from mean crown radius (MCR) is of interest to natural resource managers because MCR can be estimated from high resolution digital imagery using remote sensing techniques. DBH is a common tree dimensional characteristic that is used to quantify tree and stand structure. This research presents MCR/DBH and DBH/MCR relationships for boxelder (Acer negundo L.), sweet pecan (Carya illinoensis (Wang) K.Koch), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata Willd.), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.), Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii Palmer), and American elm (Ulmus americana L.). The linear model, y =a+b * x, provided the best model fit with adjusted r values of 0.567 to 0.855 for the 6 species. Crown radius can be determined from digital imagery and then used to predict DBH

Hypercube matrix computation task

A major objective of the Hypercube Matrix Computation effort at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is to investigate the applicability of a parallel computing architecture to the solution of large-scale electromagnetic scattering problems. Three scattering analysis codes are being implemented and assessed on a JPL/California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Mark 3 Hypercube. The codes, which utilize different underlying algorithms, give a means of evaluating the general applicability of this parallel architecture. The three analysis codes being implemented are a frequency domain method of moments code, a time domain finite difference code, and a frequency domain finite elements code. These analysis capabilities are being integrated into an electromagnetics interactive analysis workstation which can serve as a design tool for the construction of antennas and other radiating or scattering structures. The first two years of work on the Hypercube Matrix Computation effort is summarized. It includes both new developments and results as well as work previously reported in the Hypercube Matrix Computation Task: Final Report for 1986 to 1987 (JPL Publication 87-18)

Treatment utilization and outcomes in elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma: A review of the National Cancer Database

For elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, therapeutic approaches and outcomes in a modern cohort are not well characterized. Patients ≥70 years old with clinical stage II and III esophageal cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2012 were identified from the National Cancer Database and stratified based on treatment type. Variables associated with treatment utilization were evaluated using logistic regression and survival evaluated using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Propensity matching (1:1) was performed to help account for selection bias. A total of 21,593 patients were identified. Median and maximum ages were 77 and 90, respectively. Treatment included palliative therapy (24.3%), chemoradiation (37.1%), trimodality therapy (10.0%), esophagectomy alone (5.6%), or no therapy (12.9%). Age ≥80 (OR 0.73), female gender (OR 0.81), Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score ≥2 (OR 0.82), and high-volume centers (OR 0.83) were associated with a decreased likelihood of palliative therapy versus no treatment. Age ≥80 (OR 0.79) and Clinical Stage III (OR 0.33) were associated with a decreased likelihood, while adenocarcinoma histology (OR 1.33) and nonacademic cancer centers (OR 3.9), an increased likelihood of esophagectomy alone compared to definitive chemoradiation. Age ≥80 (OR 0.15), female gender (OR 0.80), and non-Caucasian race (OR 0.63) were associated with a decreased likelihood, while adenocarcinoma histology (OR 2.10) and high-volume centers (OR 2.34), an increased likelihood of trimodality therapy compared to definitive chemoradiation. Each treatment type demonstrated improved survival compared to no therapy: palliative treatment (HR 0.49) to trimodality therapy (HR 0.25) with significance between all groups. Any therapy, including palliative care, was associated with improved survival; however, subsets of elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer are less likely to receive aggressive therapy. Care should be taken to not unnecessarily deprive these individuals of treatment that may improve survival

Measurement of a Sign-Changing Two-Gap Superconducting Phase in Electron-Doped Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 Single Crystals using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

Scanning tunneling spectroscopic studies of $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2$ (x = 0.06, 0.12) single crystals reveal direct evidence for predominantly two-gap superconductivity. These gaps decrease with increasing temperature and vanish above the superconducting transition $T_c$. The two-gap nature and the slightly doping- and energy-dependent quasiparticle scattering interferences near the wave-vectors $(\pm \pi, 0)$ and $(0, \pm \pi)$ are consistent with sign-changing $s$-wave superconductivity. The excess zero-bias conductance and the large gap-to-$T_c$ ratios suggest dominant unitary impurity scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Paper accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Contact author: Nai-Chang Yeh ([email protected]

A first-in-human study of AMG 208, an oral MET inhibitor, in adult patients with advanced solid tumors.

BackgroundThis first-in-human study evaluated AMG 208, a small-molecule MET inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors.MethodsThree to nine patients were enrolled into one of seven AMG 208 dose cohorts (25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, and 400 mg). Patients received AMG 208 orally on days 1 and days 4-28 once daily. The primary objectives were to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of AMG 208.ResultsFifty-four patients were enrolled. Six dose-limiting toxicities were observed: grade 3 increased aspartate aminotransferase (200 mg), grade 3 thrombocytopenia (200 mg), grade 4 acute myocardial infarction (300 mg), grade 3 prolonged QT (300 mg), and two cases of grade 3 hypertension (400 mg). The MTD was not reached. The most frequent grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse event was anemia (n = 3) followed by hypertension, prolonged QT, and thrombocytopenia (two patients each). AMG 208 exposure increased linearly with dose; mean plasma half-life estimates were 21.4-68.7 hours. One complete response (prostate cancer) and three partial responses (two in prostate cancer, one in kidney cancer) were observed.ConclusionsIn this study, AMG 208 had manageable toxicities and showed evidence of antitumor activity, particularly in prostate cancer

Nonlinear software sensor for monitoring genetic regulation processes with noise and modeling errors

Nonlinear control techniques by means of a software sensor that are commonly used in chemical engineering could be also applied to genetic regulation processes. We provide here a realistic formulation of this procedure by introducing an additive white Gaussian noise, which is usually found in experimental data. Besides, we include model errors, meaning that we assume we do not know the nonlinear regulation function of the process. In order to illustrate this procedure, we employ the Goodwin dynamics of the concentrations [B.C. Goodwin, Temporal Oscillations in Cells, (Academic Press, New York, 1963)] in the simple form recently applied to single gene systems and some operon cases [H. De Jong, J. Comp. Biol. 9, 67 (2002)], which involves the dynamics of the mRNA, given protein, and metabolite concentrations. Further, we present results for a three gene case in co-regulated sets of transcription units as they occur in prokaryotes. However, instead of considering their full dynamics, we use only the data of the metabolites and a designed software sensor. We also show, more generally, that it is possible to rebuild the complete set of nonmeasured concentrations despite the uncertainties in the regulation function or, even more, in the case of not knowing the mRNA dynamics. In addition, the rebuilding of concentrations is not affected by the perturbation due to the additive white Gaussian noise and also we managed to filter the noisy output of the biological systemComment: 21 pages, 7 figures; also selected in vjbio of August 2005; this version corrects a misorder in the last three references of the published versio

Electrostatic Patch Effect in Cylindrical Geometry. I. Potential and Energy between Slightly Non-Coaxial Cylinders

We study the effect of any uneven voltage distribution on two close cylindrical conductors with parallel axes that are slightly shifted in the radial and by any length in the axial direction. The investigation is especially motivated by certain precision measurements, such as the Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP). By energy conservation, the force can be found as the energy gradient in the vector of the shift, which requires determining potential distribution and energy in the gap. The boundary value problem for the potential is solved, and energy is thus found to the second order in the small transverse shift, and to lowest order in the gap to cylinder radius ratio. The energy consists of three parts: the usual capacitor part due to the uniform potential difference, the one coming from the interaction between the voltage patches and the uniform voltage difference, and the energy of patch interaction, entirely independent of the uniform voltage. Patch effect forces and torques in the cylindrical configuration are derived and analyzed in the next two parts of this work.Comment: 26 pages, 1 Figure. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit

Conceptual Basis for an Index of Forest Integrity for Upland Coastal Plain Ecosystems

Following the recent trend to manage natural resources for sustainability, ecologists, resource managers and policymakers are beginning to think of the management of forest ecosystems in terms of ecosystem health or ecosystem integrity. Biologists are increasingly recognizing that use of chemical assays in assessing the condition of an ecosystem has limited value, and that biological factors, e.g., species diversity and composition, can be useful characters in the analysis of biotic integrity. An index of biotic integrity (IBI) has been developed for riverine ecosystems in the Midwest U.S., using fish species diversity, indicator population analysis, trophic structure assessment, and physiological abnormalities in fish as measurable surrogates for biotic integrity . This paper explores the development of an analogous index of forest integrity (IFI) to be applied to the upland coastal plain forests of southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. The IFI developed here includes sampling and analysis of population trends of dominant plant taxa, plant species diversity, and horizontal and vertical vegetative structure at midstory, shrub and detritus levels

Preserving entanglement under decoherence and sandwiching all separable states

Every entangled state can be perturbed, for instance by decoherence, and stay entangled. For a large class of pure entangled states, we show how large the perturbation can be. Our class includes all pure bipartite and all maximally entangled states. For an entangled state, E, the constucted neighborhood of entangled states is the region outside two parallel hyperplanes, which sandwich the set of all separable states. The states for which these neighborhoods are largest are the maximally entangled ones. As the number of particles, or the dimensions of the Hilbert spaces for two of the particles increases, the distance between two of the hyperplanes which sandwich the separable states goes to zero. It is easy to decide if a state Q is in the neighborhood of entangled states we construct for an entangled state E. One merely has to check if the trace of EQ is greater than a constant which depends upon E and which we determine.Comment: Corrected first author's e-mail address. All the rest remains unchange