Space and biotechnology: An industry profile

The results of a study conducted by the Center for Space and Advanced Technology (CSAT) for NASA-JSC are presented. The objectives were to determine the interests and attitudes of the U.S. biotechnology industry toward space biotechnology and to prepare a concise review of the current activities of the biotechnology industry. In order to accomplish these objectives, two primary actions were taken. First, a questionnaire was designed, reviewed, and distributed to U.S. biotechnology companies. Second, reviews of the various biotechnology fields were prepared in several aspects of the industry. For each review, leading figures in the field were asked to prepare a brief review pointing out key trends and current industry technical problems. The result is a readable narrative of the biotechnology industry which will provide space scientists and engineers valuable clues as to where the space environment can be explored to advance the U.S. biotechnology industry

Experimental study of optimal measurements for quantum state tomography

Quantum tomography is a critically important tool to evaluate quantum hardware, making it essential to develop optimized measurement strategies that are both accurate and efficient. We compare a variety of strategies using nearly pure test states. Those that are informationally complete for all states are found to be accurate and reliable even in the presence of errors in the measurements themselves, while those designed to be complete only for pure states are far more efficient but highly sensitive to such errors. Our results highlight the unavoidable tradeoffs inherent to quantum tomography.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Imaging internal flows in a drying sessile polymer dispersion drop using Spectral Radar Optical Coherence Tomography (SR-OCT)

In this work, we present the visualization of the internal flows in a drying sessile polymer dispersion drop on hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces with Spectral Radar Optical Coherence Tomography (SR-OCT).We have found that surface features such as the initial contact angle and pinning of the contact line, play a crucial role on the flow direction and final shape of the dried drop. Moreover, imaging through selection of vertical slices using optical coherence tomography offers a feasible alternative compared to imaging through selection of narrow horizontal slices using confocal microscopy for turbid, barely transparent fluids

A site-specific standard for comparing dynamic solar ultraviolet protection characteristics of established tree canopies

A standardised procedure for making fair and comparable assessments of the ultraviolet protection of an established tree canopy that takes into account canopy movement and the changing position of the sun is presented for use by government, planning, and environmental health authorities. The technique utilises video image capture and replaces the need for measurement by ultraviolet radiometers for surveying shade quality characteristics of trees growing in public parks, playgrounds and urban settings. The technique improves upon tree shade assessments that may be based upon single measurements of the ultraviolet irradiance observed from a fixed point of view. The presented technique demonstrates how intelligent shade audits can be conducted without the need for specialist equipment, enabling the calculation of the Shade Protection Index (SPI) and Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) for any discreet time interval and over a full calendar year

Toxicity of thermal degradation products of spacecraft materials

Three polymeric materials were evaluated for relative toxicity of their pyrolysis products to rats by inhalation: Y-7683 (LS 200), Y-7684 (Vonar 3 on Fiberglass), and Y-7685 (Vonar 3 on N W Polyester). Criteria employed for assessing relative toxicity were (1) lethality from in-chamber pyrolysis, (2) lethality from an outside-of-chamber pyrolysis MSTL Procedure, and (3) disruption of trained rats' shock-avoidance performance during sub-lethal exposures to in-chamber pyrolysis of the materials

Deriving bases for Abelian functions

We present a new method to explicitly define Abelian functions associated with algebraic curves, for the purpose of finding bases for the relevant vector spaces of such functions. We demonstrate the procedure with the functions associated with a trigonal curve of genus four. The main motivation for the construction of such bases is that it allows systematic methods for the derivation of the addition formulae and differential equations satisfied by the functions. We present a new 3-term 2-variable addition formulae and a complete set of differential equations to generalise the classic Weierstrass identities for the case of the trigonal curve of genus four.Comment: 35page

e-mental health program usage patterns in randomized controlled trials and in the general public to inform external validity considerations: Sample groupings using cluster analyses

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with vigorous study designs are vital for determining the efficacy of treatments. Despite the high internal validity attributed to RCTs, external validity concerns limit the generalizability of results to the general population. Bias can be introduced, for example, when study participants who self-select into a trial are more motivated to comply with study conditions than are other individuals. These external validity considerations extend to e-mental health (eMH) research, especially when eMH tools are designed for public access and provide minimal or no supervision. Objective: Clustering techniques were employed to identify engagement profiles of RCT participants and community users of a self-guided eMH program. This exploratory approach inspected actual, not theorized, RCT participant and community user engagement patterns. Both samples had access to the eMH program over the same time period and received identical usage recommendations on the eMH program website. The aim of this study is to help gauge expectations of similarities and differences in usage behaviors of an eMH tool across evaluation and naturalistic contexts. Methods: Australian adults signed up to myCompass, a self-guided online treatment program created to reduce mild to moderate symptoms of negative emotions. They did so either by being part of an RCT onboarding (160/231, 69.6% female) or by accessing the program freely on the internet (5563/8391, 66.30% female) between October 2011 and October 2012. During registration, RCT participants and community users provided basic demographic information. Usage metrics (number of logins, trackings, and learning activities) were recorded by the system. Results: Samples at sign-up differed significantly in age (P=.003), with community users being on average 3 years older (mean 41.78, SD 13.64) than RCT participants (mean 38.79, SD 10.73). Furthermore, frequency of program use was higher for RCT participants on all usage metrics compared to community users through the first 49 days after registration (all P values <.001). Two-step cluster analyses revealed 3 user groups in the RCT sample (Nonstarters, 10-Timers, and 30+-Timers) and 2 user groups in the community samples (2-Timers and 20-Timers). Groups seemed comparable in patterns of use but differed in magnitude, with RCT participant usage groups showing more frequent engagement than community usage groups. Only the high-usage group among RCT participants approached myCompass usage recommendations. Conclusions: Findings suggested that external validity concerns of RCT designs may arise with regards to the predicted magnitude of eMH program use rather than overall usage styles. Following up RCT nonstarters may help provide unique insights into why individuals choose not to engage with an eMH program despite generally being willing to participate in an eMH evaluation study. Overestimating frequency of engagement with eMH tools may have theoretical implications and potentially impact economic considerations for plans to disseminate these tools to the general public

Pathways in Two-State Protein Folding

The thermodynamics of proteins indicate that folding/unfolding takes place either through stable intermediates or through a two-state process without intermediates. The rather short folding times of the two-state process indicate that folding is guided. We reconcile these two seemingly contradictory observations quantitatively in a schematic model of protein folding. We propose a new dynamical transition temperature which is lower than the thermodynamic one, in qualitative agreement with in vivo measurement of protein stability using E.coli. Finally we demonstrate that our framework is easily generalized to encompass cold unfolding, and make predictions that relate the sharpness of the cold and hot unfolding transitions.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 5 Postscript figur