Space Shuttle: MDAC/MMC space shuttle booster determination of stability and control characteristics and power effects at subsonic speed, Mach numbers zero and 0.26

Low speed wind tunnel tests of stability and control characteristics of space shuttle booster at subsonic speed

Clinical effectiveness and safety of analogue glargine in type 1 diabetes : systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: The use of insulin analogues for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is widespread; however, the therapeutic benefits still require further evaluation given their higher costs. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Analogue Glargine (AG) compared to Recombinant DNA insulin (rDNA) in patients with DM1 in observational studies, building on previous reviews of RCTs comparing NPH insulin and AG. METHODS: A systematic review (SR) with meta-analysis. The SR included cohort studies and registries available on PUBMED, LILACS, and CENTRAL as well as manual and gray literature searches. The meta-analysis was conducted in Review Manager ® 5.2 software. The primary outcomes were: glycohemoglobin (Hb1Ac), weight gain and hypoglycemia. Methodological quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. RESULTS: Out of 796 publications, 11 studies were finally included. The meta-analysis favored AG in Hb1Ac outcomes (adult patients) and hypoglycemic episodes (p <0.05), but without reaching glycemic control (Hb1Ac to approximately 7%). The methodological quality of the studies was moderate, noting that 45% of studies were funded by pharmaceutical companies. CONCLUSION: Given the high heterogeneity of the studies, the discrete value presented by the estimated effect on effectiveness and safety, potential conflicts of interest of the studies and the appreciable higher cost of AG, there is still no support for recommending first line therapy with analogues. The role of analogues in the treatment DM1 could be better determined by further observational studies of good methodological quality to assess their long-term effectiveness, safety as well as cost-effectiveness

Mucociliary clearance, airway inflammation and nasal symptoms in urban motorcyclists

OBJECTIVES: There is evidence that outdoor workers exposed to high levels of air pollution exhibit airway inflammation and increased airway symptoms. We hypothesized that these workers would experience increased airway symptoms and decreased nasal mucociliary clearance associated with their exposure to air pollution. METHODS: In total, 25 non-smoking commercial motorcyclists, aged 18-44 years, were included in this study. These drivers work 8-12 hours per day, 5 days per week, driving on urban streets. Nasal mucociliary clearance was measured by the saccharine transit test; airway acidification was measured by assessing the pH of exhaled breath condensate; and airway symptoms were measured by the Sino-nasal Outcome Test-20 questionnaire. To assess personal air pollution exposure, the subjects used a passive-diffusion nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration-monitoring system during the 14 days before each assessment. The associations between NO2 and the airway outcomes were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-Square test. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01976039. RESULTS: Compared with clearance in healthy adult males, mucociliary clearance was decreased in 32% of the motorcyclists. Additionally, 64% of the motorcyclists had airway acidification and 92% experienced airway symptoms. The median personal NO2 exposure level was 75 mg/m3 for these subjects and a significant association was observed between NO2 and impaired mucociliary clearance (p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Non-smoking commercial motorcyclists exhibit increased airway symptoms and airway acidification as well as decreased nasal mucociliary clearance, all of which are significantly associated with the amount of exposure to air pollution

The Expression of Small Regulatory RNAs in Clinical Samples Reflects the Different Life Styles of Staphylococcus aureus in Colonization vs. Infection.

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of metabolic pathways and in responses to stress and virulence. We analyzed the expression levels of five sRNAs of Staphylococcus aureus during human colonization or infection. Total RNA was isolated from nasal carriers, abscesses and cystic fibrosis patients (20 subjects per condition). The expression levels of the sRNAs were measured in the clinical samples and compared with those of the corresponding strains grown in vitro. Five sRNAs were encoded and expressed in all clinical strains in vitro. In vivo, the global expression of the five sRNAs was extremely variable in the abscessed patients, more homogeneous in the cystic fibrosis patients, and highly uniform in the nasal carrier samples. The expression levels of the sRNAs in vivo resembled those obtained at exponential phase or late exponential phase of growth in vitro, for three and one sRNA respectively; while for one sRNA, the expression was always higher in vivo as compared to in vitro growth. The in vitro conditions do not uniformly mimic the in vivo conditions for sRNA expression. Nasal colonization is associated with a unique expression pattern of sRNA that might reflect the commensalism of S. aureus in this niche

Programa Institucional de Bolsa de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID) e a Formação de Professores de Química – Subprojeto UnB/Sobradinho-DF

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Identification and relative quantification of tyrosine nitration in a model peptide using two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

Nitration of tyrosine in proteins and peptides is a post-translational modification that occurs under conditions of oxidative stress. It is implicated in a variety of medical conditions, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. However, monitoring tyrosine nitration and understanding its role in modifying biological function remains a major challenge. In this work, we investigate the use of electron-vibration-vibration (EVV) two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy for the study of tyrosine nitration in model peptides. We demonstrate the ability of EVV 2DIR spectroscopy to differentiate between the neutral and deprotonated states of 3-nitrotyrosine, and we characterize their spectral signatures using information obtained from quantum chemistry calculations and simulated EVV 2DIR spectra. To test the sensitivity of the technique, we use mixed-peptide samples containing various levels of tyrosine nitration, and we use mass spectrometry to independently verify the level of nitration. We conclude that EVV 2DIR spectroscopy is able to provide detailed spectroscopic information on peptide side-chain modifications and to detect nitration levels down to 1%. We further propose that lower nitration levels could be detected by introducing a resonant Raman probe step to increase the detection sensitivity of EVV 2DIR spectroscopy. (Graph Presented)