Microbiological burden on the surfaces of the AIMP spacecraft, part 4

Total microbial burden after decontamination determined for surfaces of Anchored Interplanetary Monitoring Platform /AIMP/ SPACECRAF

An experiment to detect microorganisms in the upper atmosphere flown on Aerobee NASA 4.150

Upper atmospheric microorganism detection by modified dust collector on Aerobee rocke

A data acquisition and handling system for the measurement of radial plasma transport rates

A system which allows the transfer of experimental data from one or more transient recorders to a digital computer, the entry of calibration data and the entry of archival data is described. The overall approach is discussed and illustrated in detail

Fluctuation spectra in the NASA Lewis bumpy-torus plasma

The electrostatic potential fluctuation spectrum in the NASA Lewis bumpy-torus plasma was studied with capacitive probes in the low pressure (high impedance) mode and in the high pressure (low impedance) mode. Under different operating conditions, the plasma exhibited electrostatic potential fluctuations (1) at a set of discrete frequencies, (2) at a continuum of frequencies, and (3) as incoherent high-frequency turbulence. The frequencies and azimuthal wave numbers were determined from digitally implemented autopower and cross-power spectra. The azimuthal dispersion characteristics of the unstable waves were examined by varying the electrode voltage, the polarity of the voltage, and the neutral background density at a constant magnetic field strength

Inward transport of a toroidally confined plasma subject to strong radial electric fields

Digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques were used to investigate the frequency-dependent fluctuation-induced particle transport across a toroidal magnetic field. When the electric field pointed radially inward, the transport was inward and a significant enhancement of the plasma density and confinement time resulted

Ion confinement and transport in a toroidal plasma with externally imposed radial electric fields

Strong electric fields were imposed along the minor radius of the toroidal plasma by biasing it with electrodes maintained at kilovolt potentials. Coherent, low-frequency disturbances characteristic of various magnetohydrodynamic instabilities were absent in the high-density, well-confined regime. High, direct-current radial electric fields with magnitudes up to 135 volts per centimeter penetrated inward to at least one-half the plasma radius. When the electric field pointed radially toward, the ion transport was inward against a strong local density gradient; and the plasma density and confinement time were significantly enhanced. The radial transport along the electric field appeared to be consistent with fluctuation-induced transport. With negative electrode polarity the particle confinement was consistent with a balance of two processes: a radial infusion of ions, in those sectors of the plasma not containing electrodes, that resulted from the radially inward fields; and ion losses to the electrodes, each of the which acted as a sink and drew ions out of the plasma. A simple model of particle confinement was proposed in which the particle confinement time is proportional to the plasma volume. The scaling predicted by this model was consistent with experimental measurements

A fluctuation-induced plasma transport diagnostic based upon fast-Fourier transform spectral analysis

A diagnostic, based on fast Fourier-transform spectral analysis techniques, that provides experimental insight into the relationship between the experimentally observable spectral characteristics of the fluctuations and the fluctuation-induced plasma transport is described. The model upon which the diagnostic technique is based and its experimental implementation is discussed. Some characteristic results obtained during the course of an experimental study of fluctuation-induced transport in the electric field dominated NASA Lewis bumpy torus plasma are presented

Delayed-Onset Malignant Hyperthermia in Association with Rocuronium Use

Purpose Two cases of malignant hyperthermia suspected to be related to the use of a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocker are reported. Summary A pharmacogenetic disorder that may occur in as many as 1 in 3000 anesthesia procedures, malignant hyperthermia has been linked to the use of certain anesthetic gases and depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents (e.g., succinylcholine). Although nondepolarizing neuromuscular blockers were cited as contributing to the development of malignant hyperthermia in a small number of published reports, the agents are generally considered safe for use in at-risk patients. Here investigators report two cases in which the nondepolarizing agent rocuronium is thought to have triggered malignant hyperthermia in patients with no known history of the disorder. In one case, a critically ill 27-year-old man undergoing an induced-hypothermia protocol developed a fever about 4 days after receiving rocuronium infusions, with temperatures rising over 11 days to a maximum of 105.2 °F. In the other case, a 63-year-old man being treated for serious complications of elective surgery developed extreme fever (maximum temperature of 107.1 °F) about 4 days after receiving two bolus doses and a continuous infusion of rocuronium. In both cases, the discontinuation of rocuronium therapy was followed by the rapid diminution of fever over 12–36 hours. After consultations with medical staff and consideration of other potential causal and contributory factors (e.g., neurologic injury, antimicrobial-induced fever), rocuronium was deemed the most likely trigger of the severe febrile response experienced by these two patients. Conclusion A 27-year-old man and a 63-year-old man received rocuronium and subsequently developed delayed-onset malignant hyperthermia, which resolved after the rocuronium was discontinued

The proteostasis boundary in misfolding diseases of membrane traffic

AbstractProtein function is regulated by the proteostasis network (PN) [Balch, W.E., Morimoto, R.I., Dillin, A. and Kelly, J.W. (2008) Adapting proteostasis for disease intervention. Science 319, 916–919], an integrated biological system that generates and protects the protein fold. The composition of the PN is regulated by signaling pathways including the unfolded protein response (UPR), the heat-shock response (HSR), the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) and epigenetic programs. Mismanagement of protein folding and function during membrane trafficking through the exocytic and endocytic pathways of eukaryotic cells by the PN is responsible for a wide range of diseases that include, among others, lysosomal storage diseases, myelination diseases, cystic fibrosis, systemic amyloidoses such as light chain myeloma, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s. Toxicity from misfolding can be cell autonomous (affect the producing cell) or cell non-autonomous (affect a non-producing cell) or both, and have either a loss-of-function or gain-of-toxic function phenotype. Herein, we review the role of the PN and its regulatory transcriptional circuitry likely to be operational in managing the protein fold and function during membrane trafficking. We emphasize the enabling principle of a ‘proteostasis boundary (PB)’ [Powers, E.T., Morimoto, R.T., Dillin, A., Kelly, J.W., and Balch, W.E. (2009) Biochemical and chemical approaches to diseases of proteostasis deficiency. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 78, 959–991]. The PB is defined by the combined effects of the kinetics and thermodynamics of folding and the kinetics of misfolding, which are linked to the variable and adjustable PN capacity found different cell types. Differences in the PN account for the versatility of protein folding and function in health, and the cellular and tissue response to mutation and environmental challenges in disease. We discuss how manipulation of the folding energetics or the PB through metabolites and pharmacological intervention provides multiple routes for restoration of biological function in trafficking disease