The VTRE Program: An overview

The Vented Tank Resupply Experiment (VTRE) Program is a NASA In-Space Technology Experiments Program (IN-STEP) that will develop, and fly a small, low cost space experiment to investigate, develop, and acquire needed data to extend and advance the technology of capillary vane fluid management devices to applications requiring direct venting of gas from tanks in low-gravity. GAS venting may be required for control of pressure, or to allow low-g fill of a tank with liquid while holding a constant tank back pressure by gas venting. Future space applications requiring these fluid management capabilities include both cryogenic and Earth storable fluid systems. The experiment is planned as a Shuttle Hitchhiker payload, and will be developed around two transparent tanks equipped with capillary vane devices between which a test liquid can be transferred. Experiments will be conducted for vented transfer, direct venting, stability of liquid positioning to accelerations within and significantly above the design values, and fluid reorientation by capillary wicking of liquid into the vane device following intentional liquid upset

Overground vs. Treadmill Running: Do Runners Use the Same Strategy to Adjust Stride Length and Frequency While Running at Different Velocities?

Running speed is determined by stride frequency and stride length. As running speed is adjusted, runners make greater adjustments in stride length at slower speeds with a shift to stride frequency adjustments at the faster speeds. The relationship between stride frequency and stride length is largely based on overground research which leads to the purpose of this study to analyze whether the connection of stride frequency and stride length will adjust similar due to changes in running velocity during overground and treadmill running. The protocol was recently approved by The Institutional Review Board and data collection is currently in progress; - thus the following present abstract does not contain data. In order to compare runner’s gait pattern responses to velocity changes, two wearable technologies (Garmin Fenix2, Garmin, Kansas, USA; runScribe, Scribe Lab, San Francisco, USA) designed to measure stride length and stride frequency will be utilized. Subjects will run at a variety of velocities overground and then on the treadmill with speeds ranging from slow, preferred, and fast. The main dependent variables will be stride frequency and stride length. The null hypothesis is: The relationship between stride length and stride frequency is similar while running overground and on a treadmill at different velocities. The results of this study will be helpful to runners as well as development of wearable technology used to quantify run metrics

Measurement of teicoplanin by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry:development of a novel method

Teicoplanin is an antibiotic used for the treatment of endocarditis, osteomyelitis, septic arthritis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Teicoplanin is emerging as a suitable alternative antibiotic to vancomycin, where their trough serum levels are monitored by immunoassay routinely. This is the first report detailing the development of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for measuring teicoplanin in patients' serum

Determining The Cost Effectiveness Of Solutions To Diffuse Pollution: Developing A Model To Assess In-Field Mitigation Options for Phosphorous and Sediment Loss

The European Union Water Framework Directive requires governments to set water quality objectives based on good ecological status. This includes specific requirements to control diffuse pollution. Diffuse phosphorous (P) pollution plays a pivotal role in influencing water quality with losses of P associated with soil particles often linked to soil erosion. The Mitigation Options for Phosphorus and Sediment (MOPS) project, using three case study sites, is investigating the cost effectiveness of specific control measures in terms of mitigating sediment and P loss from combinable crops. The analysis is conducted at the farm level using a simple spreadsheet model. Further development of the model will allow the results to be extrapolated to generic regional farm typologies. Results from the initial farm level analysis suggest that some mitigation options may not be cost effective in reducing diffuse pollution, however, that other options may be very cost effective.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Telomeres, chromosome instability and cancer

Telomeres are composed of repetitive G-rich sequence and an abundance of associated proteins that together form a dynamic cap that protects chromosome ends and allows them to be distinguished from deleterious DSBs. Telomere-associated proteins also function to regulate telomerase, the ribonucleoprtotein responsible for addition of the species-specific terminal repeat sequence. Loss of telomere function is an important mechanism for the chromosome instability commonly found in cancer. Dysfunctional telomeres can result either from alterations in the telomere-associated proteins required for end-capping function, or from alterations that promote the gradual or sudden loss of sufficient repeat sequence necessary to maintain proper telomere structure. Regardless of the mechanism, loss of telomere function can result in sister chromatid fusion and prolonged breakage/fusion/bridge (B/F/B) cycles, leading to extensive DNA amplification and large terminal deletions. B/F/B cycles terminate primarily when the unstable chromosome acquires a new telomere, most often by translocation of the ends of other chromosomes, thereby providing a mechanism for transfer of instability from one chromosome to another. Thus, the loss of a single telomere can result in on-going instability, affect multiple chromosomes, and generate many of the types of rearrangements commonly associated with human cancer

The effects of minimal tillage, contour cultivation and in-field vegetative barriers on soil erosion and phosphorus loss.

Runoff, sediment, total phosphorus and total dissolved phosphorus losses in overland flow were measured for two years on unbounded plots cropped with wheat and oats. Half of the field was cultivated with minimum tillage (shallow tillage with a tine cultivator) and half was conventionally ploughed. Within each cultivation treatment there were different treatment areas (TA). In the first year of the experiment, one TA was cultivated up and down the slope, one TA was cultivated on the contour, with a beetle bank acting as a vegetative barrier partway up the slope, and one had a mixed direction cultivation treatment, with cultivation and drilling conducted up and down the slope and all subsequent operations conducted on the contour. In the second year, this mixed treatment was replaced with contour cultivation. Results showed no significant reduction in runoff, sediment losses or total phosphorus losses from minimum tillage when compared to the conventional plough treatment, but there were increased losses of total dissolved phosphorus with minimum tillage. The mixed direction cultivation treatment increased surface runoff and losses of sediment and phosphorus. Increasing surface roughness with contour cultivation reduced surface runoff compared to up and down slope cultivation in both the plough and minimum tillage treatment areas, but this trend was not significant. Sediment and phosphorus losses in the contour cultivation treatment followed a very similar pattern to runoff. Combining contour cultivation with a vegetative barrier in the form of a beetle bank to reduce slope length resulted in a non-significant reduction in surface runoff, sediment and total phosphorus when compared to up and down-slope cultivation, but there was a clear trend towards reduced losses. However, the addition of a beetle bank did not provide a significant reduction in runoff, sediment losses or total phosphorus losses when compared to contour cultivation, suggesting only a marginal additional benefit. The economic implications for farmers of the different treatment options are investigated in order to assess their suitability for implementation at a field scale