Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer Integration and Test

Integration and test (I&T) of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is presented. A collaborative NASA project between Goddard Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center, LADEE's mission is to explore the low lunar orbit environment and exosphere for constituents. Its instruments include two spectrometers, a dust detector, and a laser communication technology demonstration. Although a relatively low-cost spacecraft, LADEE has I&T requirements typical of most planetary probes, such as prelaunch contamination control, sterilization, and instrument calibration. To lead to a successful mission, I&T at the spacecraft, instrument, and observatory level must include step-by-step and end-to-end functional, environmental, and performance testing. Due to its compressed development schedule, LADEE I&T planning requires adjusting test flows and sequences to account for long-lead critical-path items and limited spares. A protoflight test-level strategy is also baselined. However, the program benefits from having two independent but collaborative teams of engineers, managers, and technicians that have a wealth of flight project experience. This paper summarizes the LADEE I&T planning, flow, facilities, and probe-unique processes. Coordination of requirements and approaches to I&T when multiple organizations are involved is discussed. Also presented are cost-effective approaches to I&T that are transferable to most any spaceflight project I&T program

Research on atmospheric volcanic emissions: An overview

The project Research on Atmospheric Volcanic Emissions is a unique effort by NASA and university scientists to investigate the detailed chemical nature of plumes from volcanic eruptions. The major goals of the project are to: 1) understand the impact major eruptions will have on atmospheric chemistry processes, 2) understand the importance of volcanic emissions in the atmospheric geochemical cycles of selected species, 3) use knowledge of the plume chemical composition to diagnose and predict magmatic processes. Project RAVE\u27S first mission used the NASA Lockheed Orion P-3 outfitted with equipment to measure concentrations of the gases SO2, OCS, H2S, CS2, NO, O3and trace elements in particles in Mt. St. Helens\u27 plume on September 22, 1980. Measurements of SO2 column densities in the plume permitted calculations of SO2 fluxes. This article is an overview of the first experimental design factors and performance of the initial RAVE experiment

Chemical Inhibition of Alpha-Toxin, a Key Corneal Virulence Factor of Staphylococcus aureus

PURPOSE. ␣-Toxin mediates extreme corneal damage during Staphylococcus aureus keratitis. Chemical inhibition of this toxin was sought to provide relief from toxin-mediated pathology. METHODS. Inhibition of ␣-toxin by phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 0.1% methyl-␤-cyclodextrin (CD), or CD plus cholesterol (0.1%, CD-cholesterol) was assayed by hemolysis of rabbit erythrocytes. Pathologic changes in rabbit corneas injected with 12 hemolytic units of ␣-toxin suspended in PBS, 1% CD, or 1% CD-cholesterol were compared over time. Rabbit corneas injected with 10 2 colony forming units (CFU) of S. aureus were treated from 7 to 13 hours postinfection (PI) with a total of 15 drops of CD-cholesterol, CD, or PBS. Slit lamp examination (SLE) and measurement of erosions were performed at 13 hours PI and bacteria were quantified at 14 hours PI. RESULTS. Toxin-mediated lysis of erythrocytes was inhibited up to 16,000-fold in the presence of CD-cholesterol compared with CD or PBS. Eyes injected with ␣-toxin mixed with CDcholesterol had, at 7 hours postinjection, significantly smaller erosions than eyes injected with ␣-toxin in PBS or ␣-toxin mixed with CD (P ϭ 0.0090 and P ϭ 0.0035, respectively). Eyes infected with S. aureus and treated with CD-cholesterol had significantly lower SLE scores than eyes treated with CD or PBS (P Յ 0.0103 and P Յ 0.0017, respectively); however, there were no differences in the number of bacteria present (P Ն 0.0648). CONCLUSIONS. CD-cholesterol is a potent inhibitor of ␣-toxin activity in vitro and an effective means to arrest corneal damage during S. aureus keratitis. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci

Association between the COVID-19 pandemic and insurance-based disparities in mortality after major surgery among US adults

Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in surgical care. Whether these disruptions disproportionately impacted economically disadvantaged individuals is unknown. Objective: To evaluate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and mortality after major surgery among patients with Medicaid insurance or without insurance compared with patients with commercial insurance. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the Vizient Clinical Database for patients who underwent major surgery at hospitals in the US between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2020. Exposures: The hospital proportion of patients with COVID-19 during the first wave of COVID-19 cases between March 1 and May 31, 2020, stratified as low (≤5.0%), medium (5.1%-10.0%), high (10.1%-25.0%), and very high (\u3e25.0%). Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was inpatient mortality. The association between mortality after surgery and payer status as a function of the proportion of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was evaluated with a quasi-experimental triple-difference approach using logistic regression. Results: Among 2 950 147 adults undergoing inpatient surgery (1 550 752 female [52.6%]) at 677 hospitals, the primary payer was Medicare (1 427 791 [48.4%]), followed by commercial insurance (1 000 068 [33.9%]), Medicaid (321 600 [10.9%]), other payer (140 959 [4.8%]), and no insurance (59 729 [2.0%]). Mortality rates increased more for patients undergoing surgery during the first wave of the pandemic in hospitals with a high COVID-19 burden (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24; P = .01) and a very high COVID-19 burden (AOR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.24-1.53; P \u3c .001) compared with patients in hospitals with a low COVID-19 burden. Overall, patients with Medicaid had 29% higher odds of death (AOR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.22-1.36; P \u3c .001) and patients without insurance had 75% higher odds of death (AOR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.55-1.98; P \u3c .001) compared with patients with commercial insurance. However, mortality rates for surgical patients with Medicaid insurance (AOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.82-1.30; P = .79) or without insurance (AOR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.47-1.54; P = .60) did not increase more than for patients with commercial insurance in hospitals with a high COVID-19 burden compared with hospitals with a low COVID-19 burden. These findings were similar in hospitals with very high COVID-19 burdens. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a higher risk of mortality after surgery in hospitals with more than 25.0% of patients with COVID-19. However, the pandemic was not associated with greater increases in mortality among patients with no insurance or patients with Medicaid compared with patients with commercial insurance in hospitals with a very high COVID-19 burden

A Highly Virulent Staphylococcus aureus: Rabbit Anterior Chamber Infection, Characterization, and Genetic Analysis

PURPOSE. To describe and characterize a Staphylococcus aureus strain with unique virulence that overcomes host defenses of the rabbit anterior chamber and mimics clinical cases of postcataract surgery endophthalmitis. METHODS. Nine isolates of S. aureus were tested to determine their viability in the rabbit anterior chamber. Growth of UMCR1 in the anterior chamber was established and expressed as log colony-forming units per milliliter of aqueous humor. Pathologic changes produced by UMCR1 were documented by photographs, slit lamp examination, histopathologic analysis, and quantification of neutrophils. UMCR1 was characterized by antibiotic susceptibility, biochemical tests, ribotyping, genome restriction mapping, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). RESULTS. UMCR1 was the only S. aureus strain that grew within the anterior chamber, reaching log 6.97 Ϯ 0.18 CFU/mL by 16 hours after infection. Pathologic changes included conjunctival injection, chemosis, corneal edema, severe iritis, fibrin accumulation, and a 193-fold increase in neutrophils by 16 hours after infection. UMCR1 was only resistant to sulfamethoxazole and, like other S. aureus isolates, polymyxin B. UMCR1 also had biochemical reactions and a ribotype pattern typical of S. aureus. The genomic reconstruction analysis of UMCR1 was most similar to strains MW2 and MSSA476. MLST revealed a 1 in 3198 nucleotide difference between UMCR1 and strains MW2 and MSSA476. CONCLUSIONS. This study describes a unique S. aureus strain that overcomes host defenses and replicates in the anterior chamber. The survival and growth of this organism could be used for studies of S. aureus pathogenesis, host defenses, and effectiveness of antibiotics within the anterior chamber. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010;51:5114 -5120

Mobile Enhancement of Motivation in Schizophrenia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Personalized Text Message Intervention for Motivation Deficits

Objective: Motivation deficits remain an unmet treatment need in schizophrenia. Recent research has identified mechanisms underlying motivation deficits (i.e., impaired effort-cost computations, reduced future reward-value representation maintenance) that may be effective treatment targets to improve motivation. This study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of Mobile Enhancement of Motivation in Schizophrenia (MEMS), an intervention that leverages mobile technology to target these mechanisms with text messages. Method: Fifty-six participants with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder were randomized to MEMS (n = 27) or a control condition (n = 29). All participants set recovery goals to complete over 8 weeks. Participants in the MEMS group additionally received personalized, interactive text messages on their personal cellphones each weekday. Results: Retention and engagement in MEMS were high: 92.6% completed 8 weeks of MEMS, with an 86.1% text message response rate, and 100% reported being satisfied with the text messages. Compared to participants in the control condition, the participants in the MEMS condition had significantly greater improvements in interviewer-rated motivation and anticipatory pleasure and attained significantly more recovery-oriented goals at 8 weeks. There were no significant group differences in purported mechanisms (performance-based effort-cost computations and future reward-value representations) or in self-reported motivation, quality of life, or functioning. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that MEMS is feasible as a brief, low-intensity mobile intervention that could effectively improve some aspects of motivation (i.e., initiation and maintenance of goal-directed behaviors) and recovery goal attainment for those with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. More work is needed with larger samples and to understand the mechanisms of change in MEMS

Treatment of Terminal Peritoneal Carcinomatosis by a Transducible p53-Activating Peptide

Advanced-stage peritoneal carcinomatosis is resistant to current chemotherapy treatment and, in the case of metastatic ovarian cancer, results in a devastating 15%–20% survival rate. Therapeutics that restore genes inactivated during oncogenesis are predicted to be more potent and specific than current therapies. Experiments with viral vectors have demonstrated the theoretical utility of expressing the p53 tumor suppressor gene in cancer cells. However, clinically useful alternative approaches for introducing p53 activity into cancer cells are clearly needed. It has been hypothesized that direct reactivation of endogenous p53 protein in cancer cells will be therapeutically beneficial, but few tests of this hypothesis have been carried out in vivo. We report that a transducible D-isomer RI-TATp53C′ peptide activates the p53 protein in cancer cells, but not normal cells. RI-TATp53C′ peptide treatment of preclinical terminal peritoneal carcinomatosis and peritoneal lymphoma models results in significant increases in lifespan (greater than 6-fold) and the generation of disease-free animals. These proof-of-concept observations show that specific activation of endogenous p53 activity by a macromolecular agent is therapeutically effective in preclinical models of terminal human malignancy. Our results suggest that TAT-mediated transduction may be a useful strategy for the therapeutic delivery of large tumor suppressor molecules to malignant cells in vivo

Pass a Law, Any Law, Fast! State Legislative Responses to the Kelo Backlash

The Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London left protection of property against takings for economic development to the states. Since Kelo, thirty-seven states have enacted legislation to update their eminent domain laws. This paper is the first to theoretically and empirically analyze the factors that influence whether, in what manner, and how quickly states change their laws through new legislation. Fourteen of the thirty-seven new laws offer only weak protections against development takings. The legislative response to Kelo was responsive to measures of the backlash but only in the binary decision whether to pass any new law. The decision to enact a meaningful restriction was more a function of relevant political economy measures. States with more economic freedom, greater value of new housing construction, and less racial and income inequality are more likely to have enacted stronger restrictions, and sooner. Of the thirteen states that have not updated, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi are highly likely to do so in the future. Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York are unlikely to update ever if at all

Annual consultation prevalence of regional musculoskeletal problems in primary care: an observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Regional musculoskeletal pain such as back or shoulder pain are commonly reported symptoms in the community. The extent of consultation to primary care with such problems is unknown as a variety of labels may be used to record such consultations. The objective was to classify musculoskeletal morbidity codes used in routine primary care by body region, and to determine the annual consultation prevalence of regional musculoskeletal problems.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Musculoskeletal codes within the Read morbidity Code system were identified and grouped by relevant body region by four GPs. Consultations with these codes were then extracted from the recorded consultations at twelve general practices contributing to a general practice consultation database (CiPCA). Annual consultation prevalence per 10,000 registered persons for the year 2006 was determined, stratified by age and gender, for problems in individual regions and for problems affecting multiple regions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>5,908 musculoskeletal codes were grouped into regions. One in seven of all recorded consultations were for a musculoskeletal problem. The back was the most common individual region recorded (591 people consulting per 10,000 registered persons), followed by the knee (324/10,000). In children, the foot was the most common region. Different age and gender trends were apparent across body regions although women generally had higher consultation rates. The annual consultation-based prevalence for problems encompassing more than one region was 556 people consulting per 10,000 registered persons and increased in older people and in females.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is an extensive and varied regional musculoskeletal workload in primary care. Musculoskeletal problems are a major constituent of general practice. The output from this study can be used as a resource for planning future studies.</p