Design, test, and performance of the Mariner 5 temperature control reference

Design and performance of Mariner 5 temperature control assembly coating

Effects of space environment on composites: An analytical study of critical experimental parameters

A generalized methodology currently employed at JPL, was used to develop an analytical model for effects of high-energy electrons and interactions between electron and ultraviolet effects. Chemical kinetic concepts were applied in defining quantifiable parameters; the need for determining short-lived transient species and their concentration was demonstrated. The results demonstrates a systematic and cost-effective means of addressing the issues and show qualitative and quantitative, applicable relationships between space radiation and simulation parameters. An equally important result is identification of critical initial experiments necessary to further clarify the relationships. Topics discussed include facility and test design; rastered vs. diffuse continuous e-beam; valid acceleration level; simultaneous vs. sequential exposure to different types of radiation; and interruption of test continuity

Expression of active human sialyltransferase ST6GalNAcI in Escherichia coli

Georgios Skretas, Sean Carroll, and George Georgiou are with the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA -- George Georgiou is with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin and the Section of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA -- Georgios Skretas and George Georgiou are with the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA -- Shawn DeFrees, Karl F. Johnson, and Marc F. Schwartz are with Neose Technologies Inc, 102 Rock Road, Horsham, PA, 19044, USABackground: The presence of terminal, surface-exposed sialic acid moieties can greatly enhance the in vivo half-life of glycosylated biopharmaceuticals and improve their therapeutic efficacy. Complete and homogeneous sialylation of glycoproteins can be efficiently performed enzymically in vitro but this process requires large amounts of catalytically active sialyltransferases. Furthermore, standard microbial hosts used for large-scale production of recombinant enzymes can only produce small quantities of glycosyltransferases of animal origin, which lack catalytic activity. Results and conclusion: In this work, we have expressed the human sialyltransferase ST6GalNAc I (ST6), an enzyme that sialylates O-linked glycoproteins, in Escherichia coli cells. We observed that wild-type bacterial cells are able to produce only very small amounts of soluble ST6 enzyme. We have found, however, that engineered bacterial strains which possess certain types of oxidative cytoplasm or which co-express the molecular chaperones/co-chaperones trigger factor, DnaK/DnaJ, GroEL/GroES, and Skp, can produce greatly enhanced amounts of soluble ST6. Furthermore, we have developed a novel high-throughput assay for the detection of sialyltransferase activity and used it to demonstrate that the bacterially expressed ST6 enzyme is active and able to transfer sialic acid onto a desialylated O-glycoprotein, bovine submaxillary mucin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of expression of active human sialyltransferase in bacteria. This system may be used as a starting point for the evolution of sialyltransferases with better expression characteristics or altered donor/acceptor specificities.Chemical EngineeringBiomedical EngineeringInstitute for Cellular and Molecular [email protected]

Evaluating Descriptive Metrics of the Human Cone Mosaic

Purpose: To evaluate how metrics used to describe the cone mosaic change in response to simulated photoreceptor undersampling (i.e., cell loss or misidentification). Methods: Using an adaptive optics ophthalmoscope, we acquired images of the cone mosaic from the center of fixation to 10° along the temporal, superior, inferior, and nasal meridians in 20 healthy subjects. Regions of interest (n = 1780) were extracted at regular intervals along each meridian. Cone mosaic geometry was assessed using a variety of metrics − density, density recovery profile distance (DRPD), nearest neighbor distance (NND), intercell distance (ICD), farthest neighbor distance (FND), percentage of six-sided Voronoi cells, nearest neighbor regularity (NNR), number of neighbors regularity (NoNR), and Voronoi cell area regularity (VCAR). The “performance” of each metric was evaluated by determining the level of simulated loss necessary to obtain 80% statistical power. Results: Of the metrics assessed, NND and DRPD were the least sensitive to undersampling, classifying mosaics that lost 50% of their coordinates as indistinguishable from normal. The NoNR was the most sensitive, detecting a significant deviation from normal with only a 10% cell loss. Conclusions: The robustness of cone spacing metrics makes them unsuitable for reliably detecting small deviations from normal or for tracking small changes in the mosaic over time. In contrast, regularity metrics are more sensitive to diffuse loss and, therefore, better suited for detecting such changes, provided the fraction of misidentified cells is minimal. Combining metrics with a variety of sensitivities may provide a more complete picture of the integrity of the photoreceptor mosaic

Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District: Can Environmental Impact Analysis Preserve Sustainable Development from the New Reach of the Supreme Court\u27s Exactions Jurisprudence?

The United States Supreme Court has raised the legal standard for a municipality to use land use exactions for sustainable development. Land use exactions frequent local government affairs and occur when a government demands a dedication of land or money in exchange for a municipal approval, such as a permit. Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District found certain proposed government exactions for land use permits as “demands” on the applicant and required a “‘nexus\u27 and ‘rough proportionality’ between the property that the government demands and the social costs of the applicant\u27s proposal,” regardless of whether the exaction was a condition precedent or a condition subsequent. Even without incurring a “takings” for purposes of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, if government-imposed exactions are found to be “[e]xtortionate demand[s],” this would still “run afoul of the Takings Clause not because they take property but because they impermissibly burden the right not to have property taken without just compensation.” Thus, if there is no “essential nexus” and “rough proportionality,” the exaction is an actionable “unconstitutional condition.” After Koontz, this standard now applies even if an applicant has only been asked to make payments to improve public land. However, this comment argues that municipalities can use environmental impact review to shield themselves from the threat of uncertain, broad, and costly litigation during negotiations with developers. Part II of this paper discusses the import of municipal exactions to environmental stewardship and sustainable development. Part III provides an overview of the Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine, which played a decisive role in the Koontz case. Part IV centers around the majority and dissenting opinions in Koontz, as well as the issues settled, and those now raised, by the Court\u27s ruling. Part V analyzes the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and focuses on its procedural and substantive requirements. Comparative treatment is also given to the environmental review statutes in the States of California and Washington. Part VI concentrates on case illustrations that reveal how these statutes satisfy the Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine, as extended by Koontz. This Part focuses chiefly on SEQRA, but also explores possible outcomes under its analogous state counterparts. Part VII concludes with potential ramifications for local environmental law and sustainable development

SUSHI: Globalization through Food Culture:Towards a Study of Global Food Networks

One way to explore globalization and its effects is through tracing changing food networks and the dispersion of food culture throughout the world. This paper describes the initial stages of a study of globalization that examines the links among Japanese society and culture, the role of fish in Japanese identity, and the spread of sushi, as a global food commodity. In order to understand the global networks within which the production and consumption of sushi are enmeshed the research closely focuses on Tsukiji; the “fish market at the center of the world,” as Bestor’s rich ethnography has it. The fish market is at the nexus of a global commodity network, which includes much of the rest of the world, including the United States. The research will also investigate the increasing consumption of sushi in the United States, the effects of sushi on American food culture, and the possible reciprocal effects of North American sushi culture on Japan. This paper provides background on the project and focuses on the acceptance of sushi in the United States

Data policy and availability supporting global change research, development, and decision-making: An information perspective

An explosion of information has created a crisis for today's information age. It has to be determined how to use the best available information sources, tools, and technology. To do this it is necessary to have leadership at the interagency level to promote a coherent information policy. It is also important to find ways to educate the users of information regarding the tools available to them. Advances in technology resulted in efforts to shift from Disciplinary and Mission-oriented Systems to Decision Support Systems and Personalized Information Systems. One such effort is being made by the Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change (IAWGDMGC). Five federal agencies - the Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Library of Medicine (NLM), and Department of Defense (DOD) - have an on-going cooperative information management group, CENDI (Commerce, Energy, NASA, NLM, and Defense Information), that is meeting the challenge of coordinating and integrating their information management systems. Although it is beginning to be technically feasible to have a system with text, bibliographic, and numeric data online for the user to manipulate at the user's own workstation, it will require national recognition that the resource investment in such a system is worthwhile, in order to promote its full development. It also requires close cooperation between the producers and users of the information - that is, the research and policy community, and the information community. National resources need to be mobilized in a coordinated manner to move people into the next generation of information support systems