Exeter Symposium (Part 6)

Posted on 23 Feb 2016 @ 12:32am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Wilhelm Von Haeften & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Duval & Petty Officer 1st Class Rebecca Williams
Edited on on 23 Feb 2016 @ 12:36am

2,050 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Jupiter Station - Deck 75, Auditorium 4
Timeline: MD 82 - 1155 hrs

Previously, on Exeter Symposium (Part 5)...

"OO-RAH!" Came a loud crescendo from those few Marines, who enjoyed the good natured back and forth witticisms between themselves and the rest of the fleet.

"Anyone else?"

The moderator stood and said, "We are running a bit behind. Thank you Lieutenant for a most......shall we say stimulating talk."

Duval smiled to himself, sometimes these events were as dull as watching paint dry but other times like now, they were great fun to be at and he was having a grand old time.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

1155 hrs: Warraquim presentation

Allyndra hated these things. She always felt like she was more on display then anything that she had to present. She looked over the audience while the introduction was being made.

Half of them would care less, maybe a quarter of them might understand really and only a few might catch the concepts. She sighed slightly but kept the smile in place and stood and thanked the introducer and the audience.

Taking a breath she started the presentation.

"Today I wanted to talk about the use of fractal geometry in the use of describing pharmacokinetic interactions. As a way of introduction let me remind that pharmacokinetics is the study of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and eventual elimination of a drug from the body, or what used be called ADME, absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination. It is a quantitative tool used in drug development and subsequent therapy. Pharmacokinetic models are mathematical constructs whose parameters can be estimated from experimental data, which typically consist of discrete values of the drug concentration as a function of time.

Pharmacokinetic models can be divided broadly into two classes, compartmental models and non-compartmental models. The latter include moment curve and residence time analysis. In compartmental modeling, the body is divided into compartments, with a compartment being defined as the number of drug molecules having the same probability of undergoing a set of chemical kinetic processes. The exchange of drug molecules between compartments is described by kinetic rate coefficients, which may be related to physiological parameters such as molecular binding rates and organ volumes.

Because the rate of change of the concentration is as important as its magnitude most pharmacokinetic models are expressed as a set of differential equations. Modeling is most efficient when these equations can be solved analytically to produce algebraic equations that can be fit to experimental data using linear and nonlinear regression techniques.

However, some models, especially those with nonlinear or time-dependent terms, lead to equations that can only be solved numerically. In such cases, including the growing set of fractal models, alternate methods must be developed to estimate the model parameters.

The concept of the use of fractals in pharmacokinetics to describe the influence of heterogeneous structures and physiology on drug processes occurring within the body. Fractals can describe complex objects that cannot be characterized by one spatial scale. Fractal structures in the body include the bifurcating patterns of the bronchial tree, vascular system, bile-duct system, renal urine collection tubules, and the neuronal network. In addition, the architecture, growth, and blood supply of tumors for example can be shown to exhibit growth that can be modeled using fractal processes.

However, the concept of fractals can also extend to processes that do not have a characteristic time scale. Drug processes that have been found to exhibit fractal behaviour include drug release, aerosol transport in the lungs, transport across membranes, diffusion, binding and dissociation kinetics, washout from the heart, and tissue trapping of drugs. Transport and chemical reactions that occur on or within a fractal medium obey anomalous, fractal behaviour. Specifically, the kinetic rate coefficient follows a decreasing power of time such that can be expressed thusly."

Allyndra put up an equation. k = k0t- α

"Thus alpha is the fractal exponent and is equal to or greater than zero and less than one like so:

0 ≤ α <1.

The quantity t- α is considered dimensionless, and both k and k0 are in units of inverse time (h-1). Since the equation has a singularity at t=0 for h>0, we can consider a modified form of the equation based off Zipf-Mandelbrot dirstribution yielding:

k=k0 ( τ+t) - α

where the constant tau is the critical time from which the rate constant is driven by fractal effects. However, if tau is very small, equation our original equation represents is a good approximation.

My own work suggests that such application of fractal kinetics to the study of drugs, to make better predictions of the volume of distribution, the clearance and half-life of administered compounds.

For example here we can see a fractal compartmental model that fits quite well the actual data for the cardiac drug myofradil. Since myofradil is dispersed quickly into the plasma but the model shows correctly that the fractal geometry of the liver slows down the rate of elimination. In contrast by using classical compartment kinetics the drug remained constant in time and thus the model does not approximate the actual elimination rate very well.

Simulations involving other drugs shown here, show that the proposed new model with a fractal exponent describes drug absorption, distribution and elimination fit the actual data and have a near correspondence to the actual concentration-time curves.

Thus the advantage of the fractal compartmental model in addressing clinical questions include both traditional compartmental framework and the relatively simple adjustments that can take into account the effects of heterogeneity."

Backstage, Wilhelm's jaw was hanging open like a Venus Fly Trap attempting to catch a meal. The math the Akkadian doctor was describing was beyond him, and Wilhelm could not have kept up if he an open book and an advanced computer by his side.

Is it wrong that I'm kinda turned on by all her math? the German thought to himself.

He went back to listening to the presentations.

Meanwhile, in the back of the auditorium, Greg had a different reaction. He slowly looked at Mack a few feet away from him, before opening up a private communication to him on his badge.

"Did you understand any of that?" Greg asked, his brain hurting from the amount of math being thrown around. He wasn't the best at math in school.

Mack tapped back. =^=Does it look like I'm wearing a blue uniform to you?=^=

Another officer, Smith, who was standing near Mack chimed in. =^=I'm still stuck on the whole Orion slave girl talk about forty minutes ago.=^=

"You would." Both Greg and Mack managed to joke at the same time.

Allyndra finished up with the few questions and then the moderator announced the lunch break. She headed backstage.

"Thank fully, that is over and I am starving. I suppose it is considered bad form to get completely intoxicated on blood wine, but I could use at least a glass. Anyone wish to join me?"

"To quench my parched mouth and cool my still clammy hands? Don't mind if I do Ally." Von Haeften replied cheerfully.

"Who is Ally?" Allyndra replied. "Have I met this person?"

Von Haeften laughed softly. "It's you of course Allyndra. Do Akkadians never shorten the names of those they feel affection for?"

The German realized that he gave a glimpse to the Doctor that he had some feelings for her, but figured that she was too distracted to notice.

Allyndra shook her head in the negative. "Never. Come on," she said offering an arm. "I will explain while I go find something I can drink, I think there was a bar that way."

"A bar you say?" the German asked with delight in his eyes. After his nerve wracking speech, he could do with some spirits.

Duval rose to his feet along with the others in the room, determined to get some lunch, all opf the listening had made him hungry and thirsty.

After everyone had left, Greg and the rest of the security made their way into and around the room, using their tricorders to make sure everything was still safe. Greg walked around some of the seats, noticing a few pieces of personal belongings that had accidentally been left. He scanned some of them to make sure there wasn't anything hidden in them. The other officers did the same in other areas. Mack x-ray scanned a panel near him.

"My feet hurt like hell." Mack said, continuing his scan.

"It's only been an hour-thirty. How out of shape are you?" Greg laughed, checking another bag.

Mack finished his scan and walked over to Greg, checking under chairs. "I don't usually stand around in one spot all day. I'm usually moving around more often. Or wrestling someone....or sitting in a chair in the brig watching people all day."

"Oh, but you're fine sitting on your butt doing nothing." Greg quipped.

"Hey, sitting in the brig isn't 'doing nothing'. You have to put up with drunks and arrogant criminals yelling at you the whole time." Mack replied.

"Funny, I never had that problem." Greg said, "I think threatening them may have helped."

One of the younger officers a few feet away, one whom Greg had never met, looked up at him.

"That was a joke, ace." Greg reassured him.

Mack chuckled, then looked at a few of the bags still sitting there. "Everything's clear. What do you want to do with these?"

"Ah, just leave them. Everyone's coming back. It would be better than someone claiming we stole something while moving it." Greg closed his tricorder and looked at Mack. "Thank the Lord I don't know squat about science. I hate public speaking." He glanced at the stage, "It takes more guts and patience then I have to do a talk in front of all these people."

Mack laughed, "Then you should be fine on that small science ship of yours. No big auditoriums."

An officer radioed in from seats near the front of the auditorium, while waving a small box in his hands at Greg and Mack. =^=Well, someone's getting married soon. Found an engagement ring up here. Must have fallen out of someone's pocket. Can I pawn it?=^=, he joked.

Mack responded, "Just take it to the Lost and Found. Have them announce it over the comm system. No need to have someone panicking during the next half."

Greg tossed his tricorder at a passing officer who needed to use it and tapped his badge. "Announce it discreetly. No need to ruin a good proposal."

It was at this point that Holliday decided it best to make his exit. He had remained for the first sequence of presentations, and as such had made his support of the crew clear. Nodding to his Yeoman, and taking to his feet, the Captain took one last look at the stage before discreetly making his way out through one of the various side doors.

Rebecca had been heavily distracted throughout the presentations, so much so the she barely took in the presenters and their presentations. If she was to be asked any questions, she already knew that was a test she would fail.

She was worried about Holliday, his behavior was so unusual and he was being so guarded about his plans. She could only hope that whatever it was, he took great care.

Duval came within inches of Holliday and his departure, he turned his head as he watched the man in silence before he polished off his drink, then he went back to fetch a second. "Whats all that about?" he asked of the people around him.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Manuel Lucero V
Asst. Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Yeoman to the Commanding Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC McCarthy]

LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
(and a few temp NPCs asking questions)
USS Galileo

Lieutenant j.g. Naois Mercy
Counsellor
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

PO2 Rheneas Malacy
Archaeologist/engineer
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

...and other assorted Galileans

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