Research on the International Space Station - An Overview

The International Space Station (ISS) celebrates ten years of operations in 2008. While the station did not support permanent human crews during the first two years of operations November 1998 to November 2000 it hosted a few early science experiments months before the first international crew took up residence. Since that time and simultaneous with the complicated task of ISS construction and overcoming impacts from the tragic Columbia accident science returns from the ISS have been growing at a steady pace. As of this writing, over 162 experiments have been operated on the ISS, supporting research for hundreds of ground-based investigators from the U.S. and international partners. This report summarizes the experimental results collected to date. Today, NASA's priorities for research aboard the ISS center on understanding human health during long-duration missions, researching effective countermeasures for long-duration crewmembers, and researching and testing new technologies that can be used for future exploration crews and spacecraft. Through the U.S. National Laboratory designation, the ISS is also a platform available to other government agencies. Research on ISS supports new understandings, methods or applications relevant to life on Earth, such as understanding effective protocols to protect against loss of bone density or better methods for producing stronger metal alloys. Experiment results have already been used in applications as diverse as the manufacture of solar cell and insulation materials for new spacecraft and the verification of complex numerical models for behavior of fluids in fuel tanks. A synoptic publication of these results will be forthcoming in 2009. At the 10-year point, the scientific returns from ISS should increase at a rapid pace. During the 2008 calendar year, the laboratory space and research facilities were tripled with the addition of ESA's Columbus and JAXA's Kibo scientific modules joining NASA's Destiny Laboratory. All three laboratories, together with external payload accommodations, support a wide variety of research racks and science and technology experiments. In 2009, the number of crewmembers will increase from three to six, greatly increasing the time available for research. The realization of the international scientific partnership provides new opportunities for scientific collaboration and broadens the research potential on the ISS. Engineers and scientists from around the world are working together to refine their operational relationships and build from their experiences conducting early science to ensure maximum utilization of the expanded capabilities aboard ISS. This paper will summarize science results and accomplishments, and discuss how the early science utilization provides the foundation for continuing research campaigns aboard the ISS that will benefit future exploration programs

Blending the Old and the New: Qualitative Data Analysis a s Critical Thinking and Using NVivo with a Generic Approach

In this article the authors seek to make the case that qualitative data analysis can be explained within the framework of critical thinking and incorporates within this framework the role of technology – specifically NVivo. First they discuss critical thinking from the perspectives of Bloom, Adler, and Polanyi. They then link critical thinking to the concept of a general inductive approach to qualitative analysis as described by Thomas. Finally, they illustrate connections of both critical thinking and the general inductive approach to technology using NVivo screenshots

Near-Infrared Light Curves of the Black Hole Binary A0620-00

We measured the near-infrared orbital light curve of the black hole binary A0620-00 in 1995 and 1996. The light curves show an asymmetric, double-humped modulation with extra emission in the peak at orbital phase 0.75. There were no significant changes in the shape of the light curve over the one-year observation period. There were no sharp dips in the light curves nor reversals of the asymmetry between the two peaks as seen in earlier observations. The light curves are well fit by models incorporating ellipsoidal variations from the mass-losing K-type star plus a beamed bright spot on the accretion disk around the compact star. The long-term stability of the light curve shape rules out superhumps and star spots as sources of asymmetry when we observed A0620-00. The ellipsoidal variations yield a lower limit i >= 38 deg on the orbital inclination. The light curves show no eclipse features, which places an upper limit i <= 75 deg. This range of inclinations constrains the mass of the compact object to 3.3 < M_1 < 13.6 Msun. The light curves do not further constrain the orbital inclination because the contribution of the accretion disk to the observed flux is unknown. We argue that a previous attempt to measure the near-infrared flux from the accretion disk using the dilution of the 12CO(2,0) bandhead in the spectrum of the K star is not reliable because the band strength depends strongly on surface gravity.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. 17 pages, 4 figures. Prepared using AASTEX V. 5.

Granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor α expression and its targeting in antigen-induced arthritis and inflammation

A Representative FACS plots showing Ly6G and Ly6C staining of CD45+ myeloid populations in the AIA knee joint. F4/80intSSchi eosinophils (Eos), F4/80+CD11c+MHCII+ Mo-DCs (R1), F4/80+CD11c-MHCII+ macrophages (Macs) (R2), F4/80+CD11c-MHCII- macrophages (R3), F4/80-CD11c+ MHCII+ cDCs, F4/80-CD11b+Ly6G+ neutrophils, which are also Ly6C+, and F4/80-CD11b+Ly6G-SScloLy6C+/- monocytes. B Representative FACS plots of CD45+ myeloid populations in the AIA knee joint showing Ly6G+ neutrophils are CD64- and F4/80+ macrophages/Mo-DCs are CD64+. (PDF 235 kb

Spectroscopy of Nine Cataclysmic Variable Stars

We present optical spectroscopy of nine cataclysmic binary stars, mostly dwarf novae, obtained primarily to determine orbital periods Porb. The stars and their periods are LX And, 0.1509743(5) d; CZ Aql, 0.2005(6) d; LU Cam, 0.1499686(4) d; GZ Cnc, 0.0881(4) d; V632 Cyg, 0.06377(8) d; V1006 Cyg, 0.09903(9) d; BF Eri, 0.2708804(4) d; BI Ori, 0.1915(5) d; and FO Per, for which Porb is either 0.1467(4) or 0.1719(5) d. Several of the stars proved to be especially interesting. In BF Eri, we detect the absorption spectrum of a secondary star of spectral type K3 +- 1 subclass, which leads to a distance estimate of approximately 1 kpc. However, BF Eri has a large proper motion (100 mas/yr), and we have a preliminary parallax measurement that confirms the large proper motion and yields only an upper limit for the parallax. BF Eri's space velocity is evidently large, and it appears to belong to the halo population. In CZ Aql, the emission lines have strong wings that move with large velocity amplitude, suggesting a magnetically-channeled accretion flow. The orbital period of V1006 Cyg places it squarely within the 2- to 3-hour "gap" in the distribution of cataclysmic binary orbital periods.Comment: 31 pages, 5 postscript and one PNG figure. Accepted for PAS

The Crew Earth Observations Experiment: Earth System Science from the ISS

This viewgraph presentation reviews the use of Astronaut Photography (AP) as taken from the International Space Station (ISS) in Earth System Science (ESS). Included are slides showing basic remote sensing theory, data characteristics of astronaut photography, astronaut training and operations, crew Earth observations group, targeting sites and acquisition, cataloging and database, analysis and applications for ESS, image analysis of particular interest urban areas, megafans, deltas, coral reefs. There are examples of the photographs and the analysis

The Environmental Conditions, Treatments, and Exposures Ontology (ECTO): connecting toxicology and exposure to human health and beyond.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating the impact of environmental exposures on organism health is a key goal of modern biomedicine and is critically important in an age of greater pollution and chemicals in our environment. Environmental health utilizes many different research methods and generates a variety of data types. However, to date, no comprehensive database represents the full spectrum of environmental health data. Due to a lack of interoperability between databases, tools for integrating these resources are needed. In this manuscript we present the Environmental Conditions, Treatments, and Exposures Ontology (ECTO), a species-agnostic ontology focused on exposure events that occur as a result of natural and experimental processes, such as diet, work, or research activities. ECTO is intended for use in harmonizing environmental health data resources to support cross-study integration and inference for mechanism discovery. METHODS AND FINDINGS: ECTO is an ontology designed for describing organismal exposures such as toxicological research, environmental variables, dietary features, and patient-reported data from surveys. ECTO utilizes the base model established within the Exposure Ontology (ExO). ECTO is developed using a combination of manual curation and Dead Simple OWL Design Patterns (DOSDP), and contains over 2700 environmental exposure terms, and incorporates chemical and environmental ontologies. ECTO is an Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry ontology that is designed for interoperability, reuse, and axiomatization with other ontologies. ECTO terms have been utilized in axioms within the Mondo Disease Ontology to represent diseases caused or influenced by environmental factors, as well as for survey encoding for the Personalized Environment and Genes Study (PEGS). CONCLUSIONS: We constructed ECTO to meet Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry principles to increase translation opportunities between environmental health and other areas of biology. ECTO has a growing community of contributors consisting of toxicologists, public health epidemiologists, and health care providers to provide the necessary expertise for areas that have been identified previously as gaps

Large rivers and orogens: the evolution of the Yarlung Tsangpo–Irrawaddy system and the eastern Himalayan syntaxis

The eastern Himalayan syntaxis has experienced some of the highest rates of deformation and erosion in the orogen during the Late Cenozoic, and the Yarlung Tsangpo, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, and Mekong rivers are the key erosional systems in that region. The Yarlung Tsangpo drains southern Tibet and the deep Siang River gorge through the eastern Himalayan syntaxis before joining the Brahmaputra in northeastern India. It has been proposed that the Yarlung Tsangpo drained into other large rivers of southern Asia, such as the Irrawaddy, Salween and Red River. We have used uranium/lead dating and hafnium measurements of detrital zircons from Cenozoic sedimentary deposits in Central Myanmar to demonstrate that the Yarlung Tsangpo formerly drained into the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar through the eastern syntaxis, and that this ancient river system was established by (at least) the Middle–Late Eocene. The Yarlung Tsangpo–Irrawaddy river disconnected in the Early Miocene driven by increased deformation in the eastern syntaxis and headward erosion by tributaries of the Brahmaputra. Our results highlight the significance of the sedimentary record of large orogen-parallel rivers and provide key chronological constraints on landscape evolution during the Early Miocene phase of the Himalayan orogeny

Correct Social Usage Volume 2: A Course of Instruction in Good Form Style and Deportment by Eighteen Distinguished Authors

The preface of the first volume says that, This course of instruction sums up for its readers the substance of the truest good form. It teaches society\u27s customs intelligently, it treats society topics thoroughly, it offers helps for social perplexities. In the scope of its subject matter it includes everything which could rightly be placed between the covers of a practical work on etiquette, while in the unique manner of presenting this matter it has accomplished something never attempted before. This second volume is organized into four more books, dedicated to Ceremonious Occasions , Entertainments, Formal and Informal , The Home and Family , and Men and Their Manners. Ceremonious Occasions discusses etiquette for events like christenings, weddings, and funerals. Entertainments, Formal and Informal discusses social gatherings like receptions, dinners, balls, and theater and opera parties. The Home and Family discusses hosts and guests, house parties, the engaged girl, children, and servants. Men and Their Manners discusses men\u27s clothing and the bachelor as host.https://openworks.wooster.edu/motherhomeheaven/1092/thumbnail.jp

Separability of Black Holes in String Theory

We analyze the origin of separability for rotating black holes in string theory, considering both massless and massive geodesic equations as well as the corresponding wave equations. We construct a conformal Killing-Stackel tensor for a general class of black holes with four independent charges, then identify two-charge configurations where enhancement to an exact Killing-Stackel tensor is possible. We show that further enhancement to a conserved Killing-Yano tensor is possible only for the special case of Kerr-Newman black holes. We construct natural null congruences for all these black holes and use the results to show that only the Kerr-Newman black holes are algebraically special in the sense of Petrov. Modifying the asymptotic behavior by the subtraction procedure that induces an exact SL(2)^2 also preserves only the conformal Killing-Stackel tensor. Similarly, we find that a rotating Kaluza-Klein black hole possesses a conformal Killing-Stackel tensor but has no further enhancements.Comment: 27 page