Mapping Guaranteed Positive Secret Key Rates for Continuous Variable Quantum Key Distribution.

The standard way to measure the performance of existing continuous variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) protocols is by using the achievable secret key rate (SKR) with respect to one parameter while keeping all other parameters constant. However, this atomistic method requires many individual parameter analyses while overlooking the co-dependence of other parameters. In this work, a numerical tool is developed for comparing different CVQKD protocols while taking into account the simultaneous effects of multiple CVQKD parameters on the capability of protocols to produce positive SKRs.

Nanobody engineering: computational modelling and design for biomedical and therapeutic applications.

Nanobodies, the smallest functional antibody fragment derived from camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies, have emerged as powerful tools for diverse biomedical applications. In this comprehensive review, we discuss the structural characteristics, functional properties, and computational approaches driving the design and optimisation of synthetic nanobodies. We explore their unique antigen-binding domains, highlighting the critical role of complementarity-determining regions in target recognition and specificity.

Landmark-free Shape Analysis of the Human Duodenum.

The primary function of the duodenum is to undertake chemical digestion by ensuring that the partially digested food received from the stomach is well-mixed with the enzymes and chemicals secreted into it. However, little is known about the anatomical variations in the shape of the duodenum within humans, and thus the effect of duodenum shape on the flow and mixing occurring within the lumen has not been studied. In this work, a methodology for analyzing shape variations in the normal duodenal anatomy has been developed and applied to a publicly available dataset of abdominal CT images.

Pharmacokinetics of Buprenorphine Buccal Film and Orally-administered Oxycodone in a Respiratory Study: An Analysis of Secondary Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters and oxygen saturation as markers of abuse potential after administration of buprenorphine buccal film (BBF) and immediate-release (IR) oxycodone.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data from a phase I randomized controlled trial. A total of 19 healthy subjects who self-identified as recreational opioid users were enrolled, with 15 completing the study.

Effects of buprenorphine buccal film and oral oxycodone on pupil diameter in a respiratory study.

Objective: Evaluate the pupillary-constricting effects following administration of buprenorphine buccal film (BBF) and immediate-release (IR) oxycodone.

Design: A double-blind, double-dummy, six-treatment, six-period, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study.

Setting: Single-center, phase 1 exploratory pharmacodynamics.

A Novel Role for Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type-2 as a Hypochlorite-Resistant Serine Protease Inhibitor and Holdase Chaperone.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type-2 (PAI-2), a member of the serpin family, is dramatically upregulated during pregnancy and in response to inflammation. Although PAI-2 exists in glycosylated and non-glycosylated forms in vivo, the majority of in vitro studies of PAI-2 have exclusively involved the intracellular non-glycosylated form. This study shows that exposure to inflammation-associated hypochlorite induces the oligomerisation of PAI-2 via a mechanism involving dityrosine formation.

Modelling uptake and transport of therapeutic agents through the lymphatic system.

The ability of the lymphatic network to absorb large molecules and bypass the first-pass liver metabolism makes it appealing as a delivery system for therapeutic substances. In most cases, the drug is injected into the subcutaneous tissue and must negotiate the tissue space, before being drained via the lymphatics. Tracking the transport of drug molecules through this route is challenging, and computational models of lymphatic drainage can play an important role in assessing the efficacy of a proposed delivery strategy.

Modelling Flow and Mixing in the Proximal Small Intestine.

The small intestine is the primary site of enzymatic digestion and nutrient absorption in humans. Intestinal contractions facilitate digesta mixing, transport and contact with the absorptive surfaces. These motility patterns are regulated by an underlying electrical activity, termed slow waves.

A Phase I Placebo-Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of Buprenorphine Buccal Film and Oral Oxycodone Hydrochloride Administration on Respiratory Drive.

Introduction: Buprenorphine is a partial μ-opioid receptor agonist that, unlike full μ-opioid receptor agonists, has been shown to have a ceiling effect on respiratory depression. Buprenorphine buccal film (BBF) is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in patients with chronic pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for whom alternative treatment options are inadequate. This study was conducted to compare the effects of BBF and immediate-release oral oxycodone hydrochloride administration on respiratory drive, as measured by the ventilatory response to hypercapnia (VRH) after drug administration.

Inadequacy of Protein Intake in Older UK Adults.

The current dietary recommendation for protein intake in the UK is 0.75 g/kg/day, however, this population-wide recommendation does not necessarily reflect altered requirements for older adults to maintain muscle protein synthesis, nor does it encompass the potential impact of intake timing. Optimal muscle protein synthesis in older adults requires both higher intake requirements and a distribution of protein intake above a 25 g threshold, three times across the day.

Quality of life in breast cancer survivors: An assessment of international breast cancer dragon boat racers.

Resistance exercise is deemed safe for women recovering from conventional breast cancer therapies but few clinicians are aware that dragon boat racing, as a form of resistive exercise, is available to the breast cancer community. The objectives of this study were to 1) increase clinician awareness of dragon boat racing (DBR) in breast cancer survivors as a community-based physical activity, and 2) evaluate quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer survivors with or without lymphedema who participate in DBR. This prospective, observational study surveyed 1,069 international breast cancer dragon boat racers from eight countries to compare function, activity, and participation in women with and without selfreported lymphedema using the Lymph-ICF questionnaire.

Alpha-2-Macroglobulin, a Hypochlorite-Regulated Chaperone and Immune System Modulator.

Alpha-macroglobulins are ancient proteins that include monomeric, dimeric, and tetrameric family members. In humans, and many other mammals, the predominant alpha-macroglobulin is alpha-2-macroglobulin ( M), a tetrameric protein that is constitutively abundant in biological fluids (e.g.

Human pregnancy zone protein stabilizes misfolded proteins including preeclampsia- and Alzheimer's-associated amyloid beta peptide.

Protein misfolding underlies the pathology of a large number of human disorders, many of which are age-related. An exception to this is preeclampsia, a leading cause of pregnancy-associated morbidity and mortality in which misfolded proteins accumulate in body fluids and the placenta. We demonstrate that pregnancy zone protein (PZP), which is dramatically elevated in maternal plasma during pregnancy, efficiently inhibits in vitro the aggregation of misfolded proteins, including the amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) that is implicated in preeclampsia as well as with Alzheimer's disease.

Development of an in situ procedure to evaluate the reticulo-rumen morphology of sheep selected for divergent methane emissions.

Published studies have shown that methane yield (g CH4/kg dry matter) from sheep is positively correlated with the size (volume and surface area) of the reticulo-rumen (RR) and the weight of its contents. However, the relationship between CH4 yield and RR shape has not been investigated. In this work, shape analysis has been performed on a data set of computerised tomography (CT) scans of the RR from sheep having high and low CH4 yields (n=20 and n=17, respectively).

Extensive marine-terminating ice sheets in Europe from 2.5 million years ago.

Geometries of Early Pleistocene [2.58 to 0.78 million years (Ma) ago] ice sheets in northwest Europe are poorly constrained but are required to improve our understanding of past ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere coupling.

The Effect of Heated CO Insufflation in Minimising Surgical Wound Contamination During Open Surgery.

The primary source of infections in open surgeries has been found to be bacteria and viruses carried into the surgical wound on the surfaces of skin particles shed by patients and surgical staff. In open cardiac surgeries, insufflation of the wound with carbon dioxide is used to limit the quantity of air able to enter into the heart, avoiding air embolisms when the heart is restarted. This surgical technique has been evaluated as a method of limiting the number of skin particles able to enter into the wound, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental testing.

Carbon dioxide insufflation deflects airborne particles from an open surgical wound model.

Background: Surgical site infections remain a significant burden on healthcare systems and may benefit from new countermeasures.

Aim: To assess the merits of open surgical wound CO insufflation via a gas diffuser to reduce airborne contamination, and to determine the distribution of CO in and over a wound.

Methods: An experimental approach with engineers and clinical researchers was employed to measure the gas flow pattern and motion of airborne particles in a model of an open surgical wound in a simulated theatre setting.

Macular cystoid spaces in patients with retinal dystrophy.

Background: Non leaking macular cystoid spaces (MCS) are seen in some retinal dystrophies. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (CAI) treatment may reduce the size of MSC and improve vision.

Methods: A retrospective study of patients with retinal dystrophy with MCS seen between 2009 and 2013 at two sites.

A deformable template method for describing and averaging the anatomical variation of the human nasal cavity.

Background: Understanding airflow through human airways is of importance in drug delivery and development of assisted breathing methods. In this work, we focus on development of a new method to obtain an averaged upper airway geometry from computed tomography (CT) scans of many individuals. This geometry can be used for air flow simulation.

PZP and PAI-2: Structurally-diverse, functionally similar pregnancy proteins?

Pregnancy zone protein (PZP) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 2 (PAI-2) are two multifunctional proteins that are elevated in normal pregnancy and numerous other inflammatory states. Both proteins were originally identified as protease inhibitors, but current evidence supports the notion that they may also function as modulators of T-helper cells and/or extracellular chaperones. Exacerbated inflammation, fibrinolytic disturbances and misfolded proteins are all implicated in the pathology of preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal and foetal mortality and morbidity.

Impact of bifurcation angle and other anatomical characteristics on blood flow - A computational study of non-stented and stented coronary arteries.

The hemodynamic influence of vessel shape such as bifurcation angle is not fully understood with clinical and quantitative observations being equivocal. The aim of this study is to use computational modeling to study the hemodynamic effect of shape characteristics, in particular bifurcation angle (BA), for non-stented and stented coronary arteries. Nine bifurcations with angles of 40°, 60° and 80°, representative of ±1 SD of 101 asymptomatic computed tomography angiogram cases (average age 54±8 years; 57 females), were generated for (1) a non-stented idealized, (2) stented idealized, and (3) non-stented patient-specific geometry.

An Experimental and Numerical Investigation of CO2 Distribution in the Upper Airways During Nasal High Flow Therapy.

Nasal high flow (NHF) therapy is used to treat a variety of respiratory disorders to improve patient oxygenation. A CO2 washout mechanism is believed to be responsible for the observed increase in oxygenation. In this study, experimentally validated Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations of the CO2 concentration within the upper airway during unassisted and NHF assisted breathing were undertaken with the aim of exploring the existence of this washout mechanism.

Dynamically scaled phantom phase contrast MRI compared to true-scale computational modeling of coronary artery flow.

Purpose: To examine the feasibility of combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and dynamically scaled phantom phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) for coronary flow assessment.

Materials And Methods: Left main coronary bifurcations segmented from computed tomography with bifurcation angles of 33°, 68°, and 117° were scaled-up ∼7× and 3D printed. Steady coronary flow was reproduced in these phantoms using the principle of dynamic similarity to preserve the true-scale Reynolds number, using blood analog fluid and a pump circuit in a 3T MRI scanner.

Overcoming spatio-temporal limitations using dynamically scaled in vitro PC-MRI - A flow field comparison to true-scale computer simulations of idealized, stented and patient-specific left main bifurcations.

The majority of patients with angina or heart failure have coronary artery disease. Left main bifurcations are particularly susceptible to pathological narrowing. Flow is a major factor of atheroma development, but limitations in imaging technology such as spatio-temporal resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNRv), and imaging artefacts prevent in vivo investigations.