Space radiation: The number one risk to astronaut health beyond low earth orbit

Projecting a vision for space radiobiological research necessitates understanding the nature of the space radiation environment and how radiation risks influence mission planning, timelines and operational decisions. Exposure to space radiation increases the risks of astronauts developing cancer, experiencing central nervous system (CNS) decrements, exhibiting degenerative tissue effects or developing acute radiation syndrome. One or more of these deleterious health effects could develop during future multi-year space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Shielding is an effective countermeasure against solar particle events (SPEs), but is ineffective in protecting crew members from the biological impacts of fast moving, highly-charged galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) nuclei. Astronauts traveling on a protracted voyage to Mars may be exposed to SPE radiation events, overlaid on a more predictable flux of GCR. Therefore, ground-based research studies employing model organisms seeking to accurately mimic the biological effects of the space radiation environment must concatenate exposures to both proton and heavy ion sources. New techniques in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other “omics” areas should also be intelligently employed and correlated with phenotypic observations. This approach will more precisely elucidate the effects of space radiation on human physiology and aid in developing personalized radiological countermeasures for astronauts

Direct force probe reveals the mechanics of nuclear homeostasis in the mammalian cell

How cells maintain nuclear shape and position against various intracellular and extracellular forces is not well understood, although defects in nuclear mechanical homeostasis are associated with a variety of human diseases. We estimated the force required to displace and deform the nucleus in adherent living cells with a technique to locally pull the nuclear surface. A minimum pulling force of a few nanonewtons--far greater than typical intracellular motor forces--was required to significantly displace and deform the nucleus. Upon force removal, the original shape and position were restored quickly within a few seconds. This stiff, elastic response required the presence of vimentin, lamin A/C, and SUN (Sad1p, UNC-84)-domain protein linkages, but not F-actin or microtubules. Although F-actin and microtubules are known to exert mechanical forces on the nuclear surface through molecular motor activity, we conclude that the intermediate filament networks maintain nuclear mechanical homeostasis against localized forces

GREEN, EQUITABLE AND LIVABLE TRANSFORMING THE CORE OF MASON SQUARE IN SPRINGFIELD, MA

GREEN, EQUITABLE AND LIVABLE - TRANSFORMING THE CORE OF MASON SQUARE takes a focused look at the Mason Square Planning District in Springfield, Ma and provides strategies for urban design and landscape architecture to support a community’s vision for the future. The students engaged through various community meetings for the larger Mason Square district in the spring of 2023 and enthusiastically supported the ideas and thoughts that were expressed. brownfield at Wilbraham Avenue. The larger goal is to shape a district for everybody to create safe and beautiful streets, provide better connectivity to public urban green, enhance arts, culture and dining, and catalyze equitable housing and business opportunities. Core Recommendations: Ben Swan Way is a space that should be used more for temporary community events. More usable for people as a small-scale neighborhood hub for curbside dining, cultural events, markets, performances. Measures range from complete closing down for regular traffic to modest alteration of parking layout and introduction of pedestrian-friendly surfaces to slow down traffic. Reduction of traffic speed along State Street and Wilbraham Road through reduction of lane widths and/or number of lanes, elevated pedestrian crossings, planting of big street trees, establishment of bike lanes and on-street parking. Implementation through phasing and testing. Safe ways to walk back and forth from residential areas to the Rebecca Johnson and the DeBerry Swan School. Primary street corridors need more pedestrian-scale lighting, benches, and covered bus stops. Former MCDI area should be developed with a diverse strategy that encompasses opportunities for small businesses and manufacturing including work/live/art, adult education, mix of affordable and market rate housing, hospitality industry and community services as a hub for the Mason Square community. Food is an topic in the district that needs to be addressed at multiple scales and levels. Offering spaces for community gardens on vacant or underutilized lots can be a great opportunity to educate about food and create community. Local markets should cater to diverse income levels to provide food security. Food should be part of the local economy and display the ethnic diversity. The neighborhood needs more and various restaurants and places to eat. Inclusion of art and activities that acknowledge black culture and the diversity of today. Embrace the racial history of the project area through expansion of community-building art events such as Fresh Paint, and commemoration of Nelson Stevens and AfriCOBRA (the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). Stronger pedestrian and bicycle connections from east to west. Underutilized land along the former railroad corridor should be used as a green spine for the community. The proposed trail “McKnight Rail Trail” should be implemented in phases to regain traction and credibility of the more than 30-year old planning proposals The area of Springfield Water and Sewer Commission should be repurposed for recreation and housing to glue the neighborhoods together. Illumination, color scheme, friendly appearance of storefronts is necessary that people feel safe 24/7. Plantings with big trees can minimize heat island effects in the core area of Mason Square. Green roofs for new buildings, green facades and stormwater swales are recommended. Editor: Chandana Palika Copy Editor: Frank Sleeger

Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing

The study of the archaeological remains of fossil hominins must rely on reconstructions to elucidate the behaviour that may have resulted in particular stone tools and their accumulation. Comparatively, stone tool use among living primates has illuminated behaviours that are also amenable to archaeological examination, permitting direct observations of the behaviour leading to artefacts and their assemblages to be incorporated. Here, we describe newly discovered stone tool-use behaviour and stone accumulation sites in wild chimpanzees reminiscent of human cairns. In addition to data from 17 mid- to long-term chimpanzee research sites, we sampled a further 34 Pan troglodytes communities. We found four populations in West Africa where chimpanzees habitually bang and throw rocks against trees, or toss them into tree cavities, resulting in conspicuous stone accumulations at these sites. This represents the first record of repeated observations of individual chimpanzees exhibiting stone tool use for a purpose other than extractive foraging at what appear to be targeted trees. The ritualized behavioural display and collection of artefacts at particular locations observed in chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing may have implications for the inferences that can be drawn from archaeological stone assemblages and the origins of ritual sites

GREEN, EQUITABLE AND LIVABLE TRANSFORMING THE CORE OF MASON SQUARE IN SPRINGFIELD, MA

GREEN, EQUITABLE AND LIVABLE - TRANSFORMING THE CORE OF MASON SQUARE takes a focused look at the Mason Square Planning District in Springfield, Ma and provides strategies for urban design and landscape architecture to support a community’s vision for the future. The students engaged through various community meetings for the larger Mason Square district in the spring of 2023 and enthusiastically supported the ideas and thoughts that were expressed. brownfield at Wilbraham Avenue. The larger goal is to shape a district for everybody to create safe and beautiful streets, provide better connectivity to public urban green, enhance arts, culture and dining, and catalyze equitable housing and business opportunities. Core Recommendations: Ben Swan Way is a space that should be used more for temporary community events. More usable for people as a small-scale neighborhood hub for curbside dining, cultural events, markets, performances. Measures range from complete closing down for regular traffic to modest alteration of parking layout and introduction of pedestrian-friendly surfaces to slow down traffic. Reduction of traffic speed along State Street and Wilbraham Road through reduction of lane widths and/or number of lanes, elevated pedestrian crossings, planting of big street trees, establishment of bike lanes and on-street parking. Implementation through phasing and testing. Safe ways to walk back and forth from residential areas to the Rebecca Johnson and the DeBerry Swan School. Primary street corridors need more pedestrian-scale lighting, benches, and covered bus stops. Former MCDI area should be developed with a diverse strategy that encompasses opportunities for small businesses and manufacturing including work/live/art, adult education, mix of affordable and market rate housing, hospitality industry and community services as a hub for the Mason Square community. Food is an topic in the district that needs to be addressed at multiple scales and levels. Offering spaces for community gardens on vacant or underutilized lots can be a great opportunity to educate about food and create community. Local markets should cater to diverse income levels to provide food security. Food should be part of the local economy and display the ethnic diversity. The neighborhood needs more and various restaurants and places to eat. Inclusion of art and activities that acknowledge black culture and the diversity of today. Embrace the racial history of the project area through expansion of community-building art events such as Fresh Paint, and commemoration of Nelson Stevens and AfriCOBRA (the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). Stronger pedestrian and bicycle connections from east to west. Underutilized land along the former railroad corridor should be used as a green spine for the community. The proposed trail “McKnight Rail Trail” should be implemented in phases to regain traction and credibility of the more than 30-year old planning proposals The area of Springfield Water and Sewer Commission should be repurposed for recreation and housing to glue the neighborhoods together. Illumination, color scheme, friendly appearance of storefronts is necessary that people feel safe 24/7. Plantings with big trees can minimize heat island effects in the core area of Mason Square. Green roofs for new buildings, green facades and stormwater swales are recommended. Editor: Chandana Palika Copy Editor: Frank Sleeger

The individual and combined effects of spaceflight radiation and microgravity on biologic systems and functional outcomes

Both microgravity and radiation exposure in the spaceflight environment have been identified as hazards to astronaut health and performance. Substantial study has been focused on understanding the biology and risks associated with prolonged exposure to microgravity, and the hazards presented by radiation from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle events (SPEs) outside of low earth orbit (LEO). To date, the majority of the ground-based analogues (e.g., rodent or cell culture studies) that investigate the biology of and risks associated with spaceflight hazards will focus on an individual hazard in isolation. However, astronauts will face these challenges simultaneously Combined hazard studies are necessary for understanding the risks astronauts face as they travel outside of LEO, and are also critical for countermeasure development. The focus of this review is to describe biologic and functional outcomes from ground-based analogue models for microgravity and radiation, specifically highlighting the combined effects of radiation and reduced weight-bearing from rodent ground-based tail suspension via hind limb unloading (HLU) and partial weight-bearing (PWB) models, although in vitro and spaceflight results are discussed as appropriate. The review focuses on the skeletal, ocular, central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular, and stem cells responses

Representing Species Distributions in Spatially-explicit Ecosystem Models from Presence-only Data

Spatially-explicit ecosystem models are increasingly considered for informing fisheries management. The inputs of these models that determine species distributions in the modeled system are critical. There is a need for methods to estimate species distributions in spatially-explicit ecosystem models from presence-only data. To address this need, we used a method relying on binomial generalized additive models integrating environmental covariates. This method allows for the production of distribution maps for ecosystem models such as Atlantis models, and of preference functions for Ecospace models; preference functions define the preferences of species groups for certain environmental parameter values and are employed by Ecospace to allocate species group biomasses spatially. The key step of the method we used is the objective generation of pseudo-absences for each month, by sampling with replacement the centroids of the cells of fine-scale spatial grids defined for each month. To demonstrate the method, we applied it to the diving bird and surface-feeding bird groups represented in the Atlantis model for the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), and to the seabird group represented in the Ecospace model for the West Florida Shelf. We also employed the distribution maps we constructed to provide a basis for a hypothetical marine protected area (MPA) planning scenario aiming to secure food for seabirds. Specifically, we produced a hotspot map for seabirds for the U.S. GOM from the distribution map of the species group, and then combined the hotspot map for seabirds with a hotspot map for their main prey, forage fish (Clupeidae and Exocoetidae), to determine where the hotspots of seabirds and forage fish overlap. This analysis suggested that, to secure forage fish for seabirds in the U.S. GOM, hypothetical MPAs should be implemented primarily within the coastal regions of the Louisiana-Texas shelf, within the coastal region of West Florida located between Sarasota and Naples and/or within Apalachee Bay, Florida