Engineering Support of Microgravity Life Science Research: Development of an Avian Development Facility

The Avian Development Facility (ADF) is designed to provide a 'window' for the study of embryogenesis in space. It allows researchers to determine and then to mitigate or nullify the forces of altered gravity upon embryos when leaving and re-entering the Earth's gravity. The ADF design will allow investigations to begin their incubation after their experiments have achieved orbit, and shut down the experiment and fix specimens before leaving orbit. In effect, the ADF makes every attempt to minimize launch and re-entry effects in order to isolate and preserve the effects of the experimental variable(s) of the space environment

Inclusões intracitoplasmáticas hialinas na medular da adrenal de bovinos

Cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in adrenal medullary chromaffin cells have been described in various species including humans. These inclusions are believed to be related to certain infectious, toxic and neurodegenerative diseases. No reports concerning such adrenal inclusions have been described in bovines. Adrenal glands from twenty bovines were evaluated in a retrospective study. Seven of these exhibited inclusions - three cases of rabies, two cases of chronic suppurative bronchopneumonia, one case of chronic suppurative peritonitis, and one case of gangrenous mastitis. The inclusions were present in higher numbers especially in cases of rabies and also in one case of chronic suppurative bronchopneumonia. The inclusions were intracytoplasmic, eosinophilic, rounded, single or multiple, of various sizes, strongly stained by PAS and were present in higher numbers in the external layer of the adrenal medulla. The inclusions were negative when subjected to immunohistochemistry for detection of viral antigens in the cases of rabies. Although inclusion bodies were present in adrenal glands devoid of other histological alterations, they were more abundant in cases in which the adrenal gland had other alterations. The correlation between certain diseases and the development of inclusion bodies is not known, which highlights the importance of further studies on these inclusions in adrenal glands of bovines