Advances in the management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a common form of interstitial lung disease and usually results in progressive respiratory insufficiency and death. Steady progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of IPF and multiple clinical trials are ongoing, but effective therapy remains elusive

Static and dynamic modifications to photon absorption:The effects of surrounding chromophores

This Letter investigates the influence, on the molecular absorption of light, of surrounding chromophores. Two novel rate contributions are identified - one vanishing for a medium with no static dipole moment. The other, dynamic term is used to model a system of primary absorbers and secondary chromophores distributed in a host medium. Further modification provides a basis for modelling a case where the medium is, itself, marginally absorptive, thus accounting for optical losses as the input propagates through the surrounding host. The results facilitate tailoring of secondary chromophore and host effects in the pursuit of materials with specific absorption features

Tension chylothorax following pneumonectomy

AbstractPost-pneumonectomy chylothorax is an uncommon complication following surgery, with an estimated incidence of less than 0.7%. Post-pneumonectomy tension chylothorax, where rapid accumulation of chyle in the post-pneumonectomy space results in hemodynamic compromise, is exceedingly rare, with just 7 cases previously reported. All prior cases of tension chylothorax were managed operatively with decompressive chest tube placement followed by open thoracic duct repair. Our case is the first reported tension chylothorax to be managed conservatively by thoracostomy drainage coupled with a period of parenteral nutrition followed by a medium chain triglyceride-restricted diet

Strategic oligopoly model for industrial economics

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2010."June 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Several years ago, Professor Robert Pindyck of the MIT Sloan School of Management created an oligopoly strategy game for use in his course 15.013: Industrial Economics for Strategic Decisions. This game divided the class up into "firms" (generally consisting of two students each) and randomly formed industries, each consisting of three firms. Students competed throughout the semester in a fictitious market for a heterogeneous good, each firm providing price and production inputs on a weekly basis. The purpose of the game was to provide a hands-on tool to teach students how industry competitors interact, and how forces such as signaling, collusion, demand fluctuations, and emotion affect industry and firm performance. Although the game was carried out successfully for several years, issues surfaced over time. In particular, the Excel model used to run the weekly calculations was set up awkwardly and was therefore difficult to use. Additionally, the memo distributed to students to explain the game was disorganized, lacked sufficient examples, and contained errors. Finally, Professor Pindyck desired to implement the game in other courses with other professors, and this was not possible without a thorough document containing instructions for running the game as well as in-depth background information on the theory behind the calculations. The work carried out for this thesis aimed to fix these problems. Specifically, I rebuilt the Excel model to operate in a simpler and more user-friendly fashion. Additionally, I revised the student memo to rectify the issues described above. Finally, I created a new manual to allow professors and TAs run the game in their courses.by Timothy C. DanielsM.B.A

Biophysical Characterization of a Beta-Peptide Bundle: Comparison To Natural Proteins

We recently described the high-resolution X-ray structure of a helical bundle composed of eight copies of the β-peptide Zwit-1F. Like many proteins in Nature, the Zwit-1F octamer contains parallel and antiparallel helices, extensive inter-helical electrostatic interactions, and a solvent-excluded hydrophobic core. Here we explore the stability of the Zwit-1F octamer using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, analytical ultracentrifugation (AU), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and NMR. These studies demonstrate that the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of Zwit-1F closely resemble those of α-helical bundle proteins. Together these studies should provide a model for the design of β-peptide proteins with biological functions

Patent: Fusion Proteins for Treating Metabolic Disorders

The invention relates to the identification of fusion proteins comprising polypeptide and protein variants of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) with improved pharmaceutical properties. Also disclosed are methods for treating FGF21 associated disorders, including metabolic conditions

The influence of preseason training phase and training load on body composition and its relationship with physical qualities in professional junior rugby league players

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sports Sciences on 08/05/2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2018.1473993This study investigated changes in body composition in relation to training load determined using RPE and duration (sRPE), and its relationship with physical qualities over a preseason period. Sixteen professional academy players (age = 17.2 ± 0.7 years; stature = 179.9 ± 4.9 cm; body mass = 88.5 ± 10.1 kg) participated in the study. Body composition was assessed before and after each training phase and physical qualities assessed at the start and end of preseason. Across the whole preseason period, skinfold thickness, body fat percentage and fat mass were most likely lower (ES = -0.73 to -1.00), and fat free mass and lean mass were likely to most likely higher (ES = 0.31 to 0.40). Results indicated that the magnitude of change appeared phase-dependent (ES = -0.05 to -0.85) and demonstrated large individual variability. Changes in physical qualities ranged from unclear to most likely (ES = -0.50 to 0.64). Small to moderate correlations were observed between changes in body composition, and TL with changes in physical qualities. This study suggests training phase and TL can influence a player’s body composition; that large inter-participant variability exists; and that body composition and TL are related to the change in physical qualities

Direct Lysis RT-qPCR of SARS-CoV-2 in Cell Culture Supernatant Allows for Fast and Accurate Quantification

Studying the entire virus replication cycle of SARS-CoV-2 is essential to identify the host factors involved and treatments to combat infection. Quantification of released virions often requires lengthy procedures, whereas quantification of viral RNA in supernatant is faster and applicable to clinical isolates. Viral RNA purification is expensive in terms of time and resources, and is often unsuitable for high-throughput screening. Direct lysis protocols were explored for patient swab samples, but the lack of virus inactivation, cost, sensitivity, and accuracy is hampering their application and usefulness for in vitro studies. Here, we show a highly sensitive, accurate, fast, and cheap direct lysis RT-qPCR method for quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in culture supernatant. This method inactivates the virus and permits detection limits of 0.043 TCID(50) virus and <1.89 copy RNA template per reaction. Comparing direct lysis with RNA extraction, a mean difference of +0.69 ± 0.56 cycles was observed. Application of the method to established qPCR methods for RSV (-ve RNA), IAV (segmented -ve RNA), and BHV (dsDNA) showed wider applicability to other enveloped viruses, whereby IAV showed poorer sensitivity. This shows that accurate quantification of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses can be achieved using direct lysis protocols, facilitating a wide range of high- and low-throughput applications

Predictors of urinary flame retardant concentration among pregnant women

Organophosphate compounds are commonly used in residential furniture, electronics, and baby products as flame retardants and are also used in other consumer products as plasticizers. Although the levels of exposure biomarkers are generally higher among children and decrease with age, relatively little is known about the individual characteristics associated with higher levels of exposure. Here, we investigate urinary metabolites of several organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) in a cohort of pregnant women to evaluate patterns of exposure