An earth pole-sitter using hybrid propulsion

In this paper we investigate optimal pole-sitter orbits using hybrid solar sail and solar electric propulsion (SEP). A pole-sitter is a spacecraft that is constantly above one of the Earth's poles, by means of a continuous thrust. Optimal orbits, that minimize propellant mass consumption, are found both through a shape-based approach, and solving an optimal control problem, using a direct method based on pseudo-spectral techniques. Both the pure SEP case and the hybrid case are investigated and compared. It is found that the hybrid spacecraft allows consistent savings on propellant mass fraction. Finally, is it shown that for sufficiently long missions (more than 8 years), a hybrid spacecraft, based on mid-term technology, enables a consistent reduction in the launch mass for a given payload, with respect to a pure SEP spacecraft

Epstein-Barr virus lytic infection promotes activation of Toll-like receptor 8 innate immune response in systemic sclerosis monocytes

BACKGROUND: Monocytes/macrophages are activated in several autoimmune diseases, including systemic sclerosis (scleroderma; SSc), with increased expression of interferon (IFN)-regulatory genes and inflammatory cytokines, suggesting dysregulation of the innate immune response in autoimmunity. In this study, we investigated whether the lytic form of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (infectious EBV) is present in scleroderma monocytes and contributes to their activation in SSc. METHODS: Monocytes were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) depleted of the CD19+ cell fraction, using CD14/CD16 negative-depletion. Circulating monocytes from SSc and healthy donors (HDs) were infected with EBV. Gene expression of innate immune mediators were evaluated in EBV-infected monocytes from SSc and HDs. Involvement of Toll-like receptor (TLR)8 in viral-mediated TLR8 response was investigated by comparing the TLR8 expression induced by infectious EBV to the expression stimulated by CL075/TLR8/agonist-ligand in the presence of TLR8 inhibitor in THP-1 cells. RESULTS: Infectious EBV strongly induced TLR8 expression in infected SSc and HD monocytes in vitro. Markers of activated monocytes, such as IFN-regulated genes and chemokines, were upregulated in SSc- and HD-EBV-infected monocytes. Inhibiting TLR8 expression reduced virally induced TLR8 in THP-1 infected cells, demonstrating that innate immune activation by infectious EBV is partially dependent on TLR8. Viral mRNA and proteins were detected in freshly isolated SSc monocytes. Microarray analysis substantiated the evidence of an increased IFN signature and altered level of TLR8 expression in SSc monocytes carrying infectious EBV compared to HD monocytes. CONCLUSION: This study provides the first evidence of infectious EBV in monocytes from patients with SSc and links EBV to the activation of TLR8 and IFN innate immune response in freshly isolated SSc monocytes. This study provides the first evidence of EBV replication activating the TLR8 molecular pathway in primary monocytes. Immunogenicity of infectious EBV suggests a novel mechanism mediating monocyte inflammation in SSc, by which EBV triggers the innate immune response in infected cells

Hypoxia up-regulates SERPINB3 through HIF-2\u3b1 in human liver cancer cells.

SERPINB3 is a cysteine-proteases inhibitor up-regulated in a significant number of cirrhotic patients carrying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and recently proposed as a prognostic marker for HCC early recurrence. SERPINB3 has been reported to stimulate proliferation, inhibit apoptosis and, similar to what reported for hypoxia, to trigger epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and increased invasiveness in liver cancer cells. This study has investigated whether SERPINB3 expression is regulated by hypoxia-related mechanisms in liver cancer cells. Exposure of HepG2 and Huh7 cells to hypoxia up-regulated SERPINB3 transcription, protein synthesis and release in the extracellular medium. Hypoxia-dependent SERPINB3 up-regulation was selective (no change detected for SERPINB4) and operated through hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-2\u3b1 (not HIF-1\u3b1) binding to SERPINB3 promoter, as confirmed by chromatin immuno-precipitation assay and silencing experiments employing specific siRNAs. HIF-2\u3b1-mediated SERPINB3 up-regulation under hypoxic conditions required intracellular generation of ROS. Immuno-histochemistry (IHC) and transcript analysis, performed in human HCC specimens, revealed co-localization of the two proteins in liver cancer cells and the existence of a positive correlation between HIF-2\u3b1 and SERPINB3 transcript levels, respectively. Hypoxia, through HIF-2\u3b1-dependent and redox-sensitive mechanisms, up-regulates the transcription, synthesis and release of SERPINB3, a molecule with a high oncogenic potential

Persistence of pristine deep-sea coral gardens in the Mediterranean Sea (SW Sardinia)

Leiopathes glaberrima is a tall arborescent black coral species structuring important facies of the deep-sea rocky bottoms of the Mediterranean Sea that are severely stifled by fishing activities. At present, however, no morphological in vivo description, ecological characterization, age dating and evaluation of the possible conservation actions have ever been made for any population of this species in the basin. A dense coral population was reported during two Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys conducted on a rocky bank off the SW coasts of Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea). L. glaberrima forms up to 2 m-tall colonies with a maximal observed basal diameter of nearly 7 cm. The radiocarbon dating carried out on a colony from this site with a 4 cm basal diameter revealed an approximately age of 2000 years. Considering the size-frequency distribution of the colonies in the area it is possible to hypothesize the existence of other millennial specimens occupying a supposedly very stable ecosystem. The persistence of this ecosystem is likely guaranteed by the heterogeneous rocky substrate hosting the black coral population that represents a physical barrier against the mechanical impacts acted on the surrounding muddy areas, heavily exploited as trawling fishing grounds. This favorable condition, together with the existence of a nursery area for catsharks within the coral ramifications and the occurrence of a meadow of the now rare soft bottom alcyonacean Isidella elongata in small surviving muddy inclaves, indicates that this ecosystem have to be considered a pristine Mediterranean deep-sea coral sanctuary that would deserve special protection

Trajectory Design with Hybrid Low-Thrust Propulsion System

A novel mission concept based on a hybrid low-thrust propulsion system is proposed and discussed. A solar electric propulsion thruster is coupled with an auxiliary system providing an inverse square radial thrust In this way the spacecraft is virtually subjected to a reduced gravitational solar force. The primary purpose of this paper is to quantify the impact of the reduced solar force on the propellant consumption for an interplanetary mission. To this end the steering law that minimizes the propellant consumption for a circle-to-circle rendezvous problem is found using an indirect approach. The hybrid system is compared with a conventional solar electric thruster in terms of payload mass fraction deliverable for a given mission. A tradeoff between payload size and trip time is established

Multi-Revolution Transfer for Heliocentric Missions with Solar Electric Propulsion

An extension of the classical method by Alfano, for the analysis of optimal circle-to-circle two-dimensional orbit transfer, is presented for a deep space probe equipped with a solar electric primary propulsion system. The problem is formulated as a function of suitable design parameters, which allow the optimal transfer to be conveniently characterized in a parametric way, and an indirect approach is used to find the optimal steering law that minimizes the required propellant mass. The numerical results, obtained by solving a number of optimal control problems, are arranged into contour plots, characterized by different and well-defined behaviors depending on the value of the initial spacecraft propulsive acceleration, the final orbit radius, and the thruster's specific impulse. The paper presents also a semi-analytical mathematical model for preliminary mission analysis purposes, which is shown to give excellent approximations of the (exact) numerical solutions when the number of revolutions of the spacecraft around the Sun is greater than five. An Earth Mars cargo mission has been thoroughly investigated to validate the proposed approach. In this case, assuming a propulsion system with a specific impulse of 3000 s (comparable to that installed on the Deep Space 1 spacecraft), the results obtained with the semi-analytical model coincide, from an engineering point of view, with the numerical solutions both in terms of total mission time (about 8.3 years) and propellant mass fraction required (about 17.5%). By decreasing the value of the specific impulse, the differences between the results from the semi-analytical model and the numerical simulations tend to increase. However, good results are still possible if the number of revolutions of the spacecraft around the Sun is close to an integer number

Thrust and torque vector characteristics of axially-symmetric E-sail

The Electric Solar Wind Sail is an innovative propulsion system concept that gains propulsive acceleration from the interaction with charged particles released by the Sun. The aim of this paper is to obtain analytical expressions for the thrust and torque vectors of a spinning sail of given shape. Under the only assumption that each tether belongs to a plane containing the spacecraft spin axis, a general analytical relation is found for the thrust and torque vectors as a function of the spacecraft attitude relative to an orbital reference frame. The results are then applied to the noteworthy situation of a Sun-facing sail, that is, when the spacecraft spin axis is aligned with the Sun-spacecraft line, which approximatively coincides with the solar wind direction. In that case, the paper discusses the equilibrium shape of the generic conducting tether as a function of the sail geometry and the spin rate, using both a numerical and an analytical (approximate) approach. As a result, the structural characteristics of the conducting tether are related to the spacecraft geometric parameters

Optimal Planetary Rendezvous with an Electric Sail

The aim of this paper is to discuss Electric Solar Wind Sail-based missions towards Venus and Mars. The analysis takes into account the real three-dimensional shape of the starting and arrival orbits and the planetary ephemeris constraints, using the JPL planetary ephemerides model DE405/LE405

Venus-Centered Heliosynchronous Orbits with Smart Dusts

This paper deals with the problem of determining an analytical control law capable of maintaining highly elliptical heliosynchronous polar orbits around Venus. The problem is addressed using the Smart Dust concept, a propellantless propulsion system that extracts momentum from the solar radiation pressure using a reflective coating. The modulation of the thrust magnitude is performed by exploiting the property of electrochromic materials of changing their optical characteristics through the application of a suitable electrical voltage. The propulsive acceleration can, therefore, be switched from a minimum to a maximum value (or vice versa) so as to obtain a simple on–off control law. The required Smart Dust performance is described in closed form as a function of the semimajor axis and eccentricity of the working orbit. The soundness of the analytical control law is validated through a numerical integration of the equations of motion, in which the orbital perturbations due to the oblateness of Venus and to the gravitational attraction of the Sun are also included