Paper Session I-B - Developmental Appearance of Neuron-Specific Enolase in the Embryonic Chick\u27s Basilar Papilla

The basilar papilla is the hearing portion of the bird f s inner ear and serves as a model for human inner ear development. We used neuron-specific enolase (NSE) as a marker for the chick T s auditory nerve (statoacoustic ganglion) development. The chick hatches after an incubation period of 3 weeks. At stage 38 (12th embryonic day), the earliest stage examined in the present experiments, we observed faint NSE staining (immunoreactivity) in neurons of the statoacoustic ganglion. By stage 39- «13th embryonic day), stronger NSE immunoreacti vi ty appeared in most neuronal cell bodies (perikarya). By stage 46 (21st day [hatching]), neurons stained strongly for NSE. Thus, NSE levels (immunoreactivities) increase during development and correspond to neuronal differentiation

A Study in Motion Sickness: Saccular Hair Cells in the Adult Bullfrog.

We examined the bullfrog\u27s saccule using light and scanning electron microscopy. We found no evidence of a striola. Type A hair cells were not only distributed peripherally, but also throughout the central macula, though far less frequently than the dominant type D. We distinguished two primary hair cell types, which corresponded to the ciliary patterns: type A cilia are associated with short, conical hair cells, and type D cilia are associated with long, cylindrical hair cells. Each displays at least one subtype, which may represent developmental precursors. The otolithic membrane is crisscrossed with tunnels and topped with statoconia

Paper Session II-B - Optical Diagnostics: Reagentless Chemistry for Extended Space Flights

Maintaining the health and safety of the crews of spacecraft remain the highest priorities. Health monitoring requires at least two overlapping activities: (1) frequent or continuous monitoring of bodily functions to determine normalcy or deviation from normalcy, and (2) specific diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Thus, with a broad mandate and limited resources, the spacecraft must provide the diagnostic capabilities for quickly and accurately diagnosing a wide range of diseases. Optical devices, though still in the early developmental stages, diagnose diseases by analyzing and quantitating the spectra of metabolites and other substances non-invasively and without using chemical reagents. Once commercially available, optical devices will replace many clinical tests that use chemical reagents for diagnostics

Paper Session III-B - Measurements of Oxygen in Biological & Medical Experiments

Since the maintenance of the appropriate levels of oxygen is essential for ensuring the success of many of the specialized experiments in space missions, such as tissue culture experiments, the continuous monitoring of partial pressures of oxygen provides important data. We are developing optical methods of monitoring not only oxygen but also many dissolved constituents in blood and tissue culture solutions. The optical system uses tiny optical fibers, which easily fit inside a fine-gauged needle, for monitoring each specimen. Moreover, the beam can be split so that multiple specimens can be monitored simultaneously. The same optical technology can also be used for monitoring the blood chemistry of humans and animals; it is minimally invasive. It has a medical application for measuring tissue partial pressures of oxygen

Chapter: “Health Law and Ethics”

Law and ethics are both essential attributes of a high-functioning health care system and powerful explainers of why the existing system is so difficult to improve. U.S. health law is not seamless; rather, it derives from multiple sources and is based on various theories that may be in tension with one another. There are state laws and federal laws, laws setting standards and laws providing funding, laws reinforcing professional prerogatives, laws furthering social goals, and laws promoting market competition. Complying with law is important, but health professionals also should understand that the legal and ethical constraints under which health systems operate must themselves adapt if health systems science is to advance

Paper Session II-C - Optical (Non-Invasive) Diagnostics for Use on Space Missions

Optical diagnostics, though still in the developmental stages, identify and quantitate the spectra of metabolizes and drugs without puncturing the skin (non-invasive) and without using chemical reagents. Once they are clinically validated, optical devices will begin to replace many clinical tests that use chemical reagents for diagnostics, particularly those tests that require regular monitoring and possess properties that are amenable to spectral analysis. Optical devices have a potentially important role aboard spacecraft because of the limited space available for maintaining an inventory of medicines and diagnostic devices. Despite the constraints, the spacecraft must provide the immediate and constant capabilities for diagnosing and treating a wide range of diseases of the crew. Maintaining the crews’ health and safety remain the highest priorities

Accurate PCR detection of influenza A/B and respiratory syncytial viruses by use of Cepheid Xpert Flu+RSV Xpress Assay in point-of-care settings: Comparison to Prodesse ProFlu+

ABSTRACT The Xpert Flu+RSV Xpress Assay is a fast, automated in vitro diagnostic test for qualitative detection and differentiation of influenza A and B viruses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) performed on the Cepheid GeneXpert Xpress System. The objective of this study was to establish performance characteristics of the Xpert Flu+RSV Xpress Assay compared to those of the Prodesse ProFlu+ real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay (ProFlu+) for the detection of influenza A and B viruses as well as RSV in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-waived (CW) setting. Overall, the assay, using fresh and frozen nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, demonstrated high concordance with results of the ProFlu+ assay in the combined CW and non-CW settings with positive percent agreements (PPA) (100%, 100%, and 97.1%) and negative percent agreements (NPA) (95.2%, 99.5%, and 99.6%) for influenza A and B viruses and RSV, respectively. In conclusion, this multicenter study using the Cepheid Xpert Flu+RSV Xpress Assay demonstrated high sensitivities and specificities for influenza A and B viruses and RSV in ∼60 min for use at the point-of-care in the CW setting. </jats:p

Modeling the Young Sun's Solar Wind and its Interaction with Earth's Paleomagnetosphere

We present a focused parameter study of solar wind - magnetosphere interaction for the young Sun and Earth, $~3.5$ Ga ago, that relies on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations for both the solar wind and the magnetosphere. By simulating the quiescent young Sun and its wind we are able to propagate the MHD simulations up to Earth's magnetosphere and obtain a physically realistic solar forcing of it. We assess how sensitive the young solar wind is to changes in the coronal base density, sunspot placement and magnetic field strength, dipole magnetic field strength and the Sun's rotation period. From this analysis we obtain a range of plausible solar wind conditions the paleomagnetosphere may have been subject to. Scaling relationships from the literature suggest that a young Sun would have had a mass flux different from the present Sun. We evaluate how the mass flux changes with the aforementioned factors and determine the importance of this and several other key solar and magnetospheric variables with respect to their impact on the paleomagnetosphere. We vary the solar wind speed, density, interplanetary magnetic field strength and orientation as well as Earth's dipole magnetic field strength and tilt in a number of steady-state scenarios that are representative of young Sun-Earth interaction. This study is done as a first step of a more comprehensive effort towards understanding the implications of Sun-Earth interaction for planetary atmospheric evolution.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Probing shock geometry via the charge to mass ratio dependence of heavy ion spectra from multiple spacecraft observations of the 2013 November 4 event

In large Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events, ions can be accelerated at coronal mass ejection (CME)-driven shocks to very high energies. The spectra of heavy ions in many large SEP events show features such as roll-overs or spectral breaks. In some events when the spectra are plotted in terms of energy/nucleon, they can be shifted relative to each other to make the spectral breaks align. The amount of shift is charge to mass ratio (Q/A) dependent and varies from event to event. This can be understood if the spectra of heavy ions are organized by the diffusion coefficients (Cohen et al. 2005). In the work of Li et al. (2009), the Q/A dependence of the scaling is related to shock geometry when the CME-driven shock is close to the Sun. For events where multiple in-situ spacecraft observations exist, one may expect that different spacecraft are connected to different portions of the CME-driven shock that have different shock geometries, therefore yielding different Q/A dependence. In this work, we examine one SEP event which occurred on 2013 November 4. We study the Q/A dependence of the energy scaling for heavy ion spectra using helium, oxygen and iron ions. Observations from STEREO-A, STEREO-B and ACE are examined. We find that the scalings are different for different spacecraft. We suggest that this is because ACE, STEREO-A and STEREO-B are connected to different parts of the shock that have different shock geometries. Our analysis indicates that studying the Q/A scaling of in-situ particle spectra can serve as a powerful tool to remotely examine the shock geometry for large SEP events