Combined In Silico, In Vivo, and In Vitro Studies Shed Insights into the Acute Inflammatory Response in Middle-Aged Mice

We combined in silico, in vivo, and in vitro studies to gain insights into age-dependent changes in acute inflammation in response to bacterial endotoxin (LPS). Time-course cytokine, chemokine, and NO2-/NO3- data from "middle-aged" (6-8 months old) C57BL/6 mice were used to re-parameterize a mechanistic mathematical model of acute inflammation originally calibrated for "young" (2-3 months old) mice. These studies suggested that macrophages from middle-aged mice are more susceptible to cell death, as well as producing higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, vs. macrophages from young mice. In support of the in silico-derived hypotheses, resident peritoneal cells from endotoxemic middle-aged mice exhibited reduced viability and produced elevated levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and KC/CXCL1 as compared to cells from young mice. Our studies demonstrate the utility of a combined in silico, in vivo, and in vitro approach to the study of acute inflammation in shock states, and suggest hypotheses with regard to the changes in the cytokine milieu that accompany aging. © 2013 Namas et al

Application of the Principles of Anti-Oppression to Address Marginalized Students and Faculty’s Experiences in Counselor Education

Despite efforts to decolonize and diversify the counseling profession, individuals with marginalized identities continue to encounter harmful experiences, requiring urgent and intentional action by counselor education programs to respond to these challenges. Recent legislative efforts have had a detrimental impact on marginalized communities, including those who identify on the spectrum of womanhood, immigrants, people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, and/or two-spirit (LGBTQIA2S+), emphasizing pre-existing forces of power, privilege, and oppression embedded in academia. In search of a liberatory framework to address these forces, the authors apply Peters and Luke\u27s (2022) Principles of Anti-Oppression to address eight common adverse experiences identified by Thacker and Barrio Minton (2021) that students and faculty with marginalized identities encounter in counselor education

Towards a spatially resolved, single-ended TDLAS system for characterizing the distribution of gaseous species

Many applications require diagnostics that can quantify the distribution of chemical gas species and gas temperature along a single line-of-sight, which is challenging in process environments with limited optical access. To this end, we present an approach that combines time-of-flight Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) with Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) to scan individual gas molecular transition lines. This method is applicable in situations where scattering objects are distributed along the beam path, such as solid fuel combustion, or when dealing with multiple gas volumes separated by weakly reflecting windows. The approach is demonstrated through simulation studies and an initial experimental proof of concept for separated gas volumes

Application of UV Visible Light Absorption and Scattering technique to low absorption fuels under diesel-like conditions

Light Absorption and Scattering technique (LAS) has been applied for the measurement of fuel vapour distribution in diesel-type sprays. This technique is usually limited to fuels with relatively high absorptivity, which are sometimes not commonly used as surrogate fuels. In the present paper, a comparison of fuels with very different absorptive properties has been made to determine the range of application of the methodology. A calibration procedure has been applied to n-decane (DEC), a binary blend of n-decane and n-hexadecane (50DEC) and three blends of n-heptane with a highly-absorpting fuel (HEPB1, HEPB2 and HEPB3). This methodology enables the in-situ quantification of absorption coefficients at high pressure and temperature by creating a uniform mixture inside the cylinder. Results have been later applied for the quantification of fuel vapour distribution in sprays for DEC, 50DEC and HEPB3. Results obtained with these range of fuels have enabled to establish the limit in terms of absorption coefficient needed to get consistent results with the technique.This work was partially funded by the Government of Spain through Project TRA2011-26359 and Grant BES-2012-059721. In addition, the authors acknowledge that some equipment used in this work has been partially supported by FEDER project funds (FEDER-ICTS-2012-06), framed in the operational program of unique scientific and technical infrastructure of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain.Pastor Soriano, JV.; García Oliver, JM.; López, JJ.; Micó Reche, C. (2016). Application of UV Visible Light Absorption and Scattering technique to low absorption fuels under diesel-like conditions. Fuel. 179:258-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2016.03.080S25826617

At the Biological Modeling and Simulation Frontier

We provide a rationale for and describe examples of synthetic modeling and simulation (M&S) of biological systems. We explain how synthetic methods are distinct from familiar inductive methods. Synthetic M&S is a means to better understand the mechanisms that generate normal and disease-related phenomena observed in research, and how compounds of interest interact with them to alter phenomena. An objective is to build better, working hypotheses of plausible mechanisms. A synthetic model is an extant hypothesis: execution produces an observable mechanism and phenomena. Mobile objects representing compounds carry information enabling components to distinguish between them and react accordingly when different compounds are studied simultaneously. We argue that the familiar inductive approaches contribute to the general inefficiencies being experienced by pharmaceutical R&D, and that use of synthetic approaches accelerates and improves R&D decision-making and thus the drug development process. A reason is that synthetic models encourage and facilitate abductive scientific reasoning, a primary means of knowledge creation and creative cognition. When synthetic models are executed, we observe different aspects of knowledge in action from different perspectives. These models can be tuned to reflect differences in experimental conditions and individuals, making translational research more concrete while moving us closer to personalized medicine